The Other Side
by Akira Seshat
Summary: Adeline is a pure blood who looses her entire family to corrupt aurors. She spends her days trying to survive until she gets to Hogwarts and is bullied by Sirius Black. That's the final straw and with the help of her mysterious 'Uncle', friends and ancient magic she transforms herself into the Queen Bee of Slytherin and makes sure nobody shares her fate.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

I sat on a stool polishing the bench and looked around to see the usual dreary mood of the customers in my uncle's shop. Any other eleven year old girl would hate to be living here, but this was my paradise. "Ariana," I turned to see Uncle Abeforth at the tap, "Take these." He said, handing me two big jugs of fire-whiskey. I took them with care as not to tip them and walked over to the table I knew they belonged to. As I put the second jug down a hooded man grabbed my arm. I kept my calm and shifted my weight so nobody in the room could see this exchange "How many?" he asked. He was referring to Aurors. Ever since Voldemort had come into power, the Hog's Head, my uncle's shop had been absolutely crawling with them. "I know for certain there's one," I said, "But there's a new face here. One is sitting at the bench by the tap – the third seat to the left and the new face is at the table on your far right." He let go of my hand and produced a galleon and handed it to me. With lightning speed I took it and pocketed it before moving on. The customer's at the Hog's Head were generous with their tips, but I kept all of this from Uncle Abe. He didn't like me talking to the customers. I sat on my stool and began wiping an old photo that was on the bench, it was a picture of a girl – the original Ariana. The sister my Uncle had lost. "Go to bed Ariana," Uncle Abe commanded watching me stare at the picture. I jumped off the stool and dusted myself off "Okay," I said and lifted myself up onto my tip toes and kissed him on the cheek "Good night," I said.

"Good night," he answered I went into the back and opened a door that led to the cramped house that Uncle Abe also owned. More photos of the original Ariana haunted me – telling me that though I had adopted her name, my uncle would never love me as much as he did her. I climbed a pile of stairs before getting into the closet of a room I owned and changed into an old white dressing gown and crawled into bed. Uncle Abe had gone quiet ever since I had received my letter to Hogwarts. I could tell he didn't want me to go – his brother was the headmaster there and he loathed his brother, but at the same time the reminder of what happened to Ariana haunted him and he knew he had to let me go or else my powers would explode out of me. I turned in my bed and closed my eyes, if he thought I'd abandon him for his brother he needn't worry. I loved him as much as a father. I relaxed and let sleep take me.

"Adeline!" I turned to see my little sister with her bright eyes waving at me, "You have to help me or else Marcel will beat me again!" I turned to see my little brother looking at the game of chess with an already triumphant grin on his face. I picked her up and sat on her stool and placed her on my lap and looked at the game of chess "That's not fair Lucy!" Marcel cried, "Of course _she'll_ win." I had a knack for chess and I moved Lucy's queen a few paces and smiled, I already knew what I had to do to win. Marcel sensing I had already won still moved his pieces fruitlessly to waste time and his expression had turned dismal. "Mistress' and Master, your parents wish to see you," I turned to see Fetch, one of our house elves pointing at where to go with a slight bow. "Check mate," I called. Marcel growled and got up. Lucy climbed off my lap and raced over to Fetch and clasped onto his hand and he led her away. Lucy loved animals and though I wouldn't exactly have called the house elves animals, she doted over them. I got up and dusted myself off. Today was my father's birthday and the entire family had decided to come and celebrate. My grandparents – explorers in establishing an Australian magic school had come, my other grandparents who had retired in the countryside of Virginia in America had and my Uncles and Aunts who were scattered all around the globe had also come to celebrate my father's 45th birthday. I looked in the mirror and saw the pretty dress my mother had gotten for me. I had a plain, tanned face and plain eyes with a slightly crooked nose but my usually thick, bushy hair had been sleeked into a bun for today and I allowed myself to look at it in delight. If I were ever to look even close to pretty, today would be the day. I walked into the ballroom to see tables set up everywhere. "Adel!" I turned to see my pretty older sister Hazel call me. I smiled and saw she wanted me to clasp a bracelet onto her arm. I did it without a word and she hugged me "You look beautiful today!" she cried and I smiled – though kind she was awfully vain. I could see my two oldest twin brothers in smart tuxedo's talking amongst themselves. I had a lot of siblings, but that meant our large house was always filled with warmth and love. My beautiful mother descended down the stairs and my father waited at the bottom and took her hand in his. All my siblings had gotten some genetics from my mother which made them pretty, but I pretty much sucked up all my dad's genes. Though very kind and thoughtful, he was a plain looking man. Claps came from the large family and my father bowed "Thank you all for coming to my birthday bash. I look at all of you and am honestly filled with joy at seeing what a close and wonderful family I have. The only way I can even think of repaying all of you for all the happiness you've given me is to fill you up with food and wine – so enjoy!" he cried and the crowd laughed and cheered. They settled to eat and I made my way to my parents, but was picked up midway "My what a pretty little girl," I turned to see Aunt May before getting wrapped in one of her bone crushing hugs "How have you been dear?" she asked.

"Great, is Callum here?" I asked. He was my cousin and one of the only people who could come even close to beating me in chess. She laughed "He's right over there you cute little thing," she said and pointed me to her son. She kissed me on the cheek "You'd better come and see me by the end of this party or you'll break my heart," she said letting me down "I will," I promised before racing off to my dad. I threw my arms around him and he pulled me onto my lap "Adel? I didn't even recognise you," he said. I grinned broadly

"Now I can look a little bit like mother," I said cheerfully. My mother tinkled out a laugh and kissed me on the cheek "You look just like your father," she said, "I love the way you look."  
"Of course _you_ would," I said, "I mean you married him." My father and along with any relative who was within listening range burst into laughter. "To think I would be insulted by my own daughter on my birthday!" my father called and began tickling me. I burst into hysterics and tried to get his hands away from me. He stopped and cuddled me "Happy birthday dad," I said, "I hope you like my present." He smiled  
"You and your siblings were the greatest gift I could ever ask for," he said. I smiled warmly before my mother took me and Lucy sat on his lap next. "You got your father's personality too you know," my mother said, rocking me on her lap, "You're a very sweet, kind and intelligent girl," she said, "Don't ever change."  
"I won't," I promised and basked in my mother's attention.

I sat next to my father during the banquet and listened to him talk to his brothers and sisters. "I heard you're having trouble with aurors and the ministry," Aunt Jane said, worried.  
"It's nothing," my father said waving it off, "They've been edgy about the main pure blood families since they've begun supporting you-know-who."

"I heard from Valery that Janus got attacked by an auror," Aunt Jane said, "You should be careful."

"Mm, I've heard of corrupt aurors," my father said, "I haven't let the children out much during the holidays. Maybe I'm being a little over protective." If he hadn't been letting us out I wouldn't know, this house was a haven to me. I loved being here with my family. "Maybe you should increase security. I mean the house is quiet open," Aunt Jane said. My father muttered a maybe.

"Why are they after _you_ though?" Uncle Hobart asked.

"I gave charity to a few of the homeless shelters in London. Apparently some of them were housing Death Eaters and I've been accused of funding you-know-who's rise," my father said in a tone that made it sound like it was the stupidest thing he'd ever heard.

"It seems like England is gearing to war," my mother said worried, "It's all covert at the moment but both sides seem to be ready to attack at a moment's notice."  
"Don't worry dear, we'll be safe," my father assured her. She seemed to relax a bit. My father saw me listening and his face went from worried to cheerful "Do you like the chicken?" he asked. I nodded eagerly and he laughed "Your mother made it," he said, "I dare say you may be the only who likes it." My mother shoved him playfully and he laughed.

Dinner was about to end and Callum had found his way to me. "Okay, I read a book about chess and it's taught me a few killer moves," he said. I grinned, chess wasn't about learning new moves, it was about reading the situation and using tactics to destroying your opponent so I wasn't worried. The talk had died down as the house elves worked to open up a space to begin dancing. My father got up and the crowd hushed "I hope you've all enjoyed the meal and I believe it is now time to dance. May I request to take the first dance with my beautiful wife?" he asked. He offered his hand to my mother and she smiled and took it, looking at him lovingly. Suddenly the house shook and everyone stopped moving. One of the house elves rushed in "Aurors sir!" he cried, "They're attacking the house." Chaos ensued as my usually calm and cheerful family began running frightened around the house "Everyone calm down!" my father called and they did as they were told "We have nothing to hide. I'm sure they'll just come and we can explain everything," he said. People looked edgy but they remained calm. My father turned to my mother "Take the children and get them out of here," he said quietly. My mother got up, looking more frightened then I had ever seen her as the house shook again. Suddenly, the window broke and aurors flew in, throwing hex after hex at my family. My family scattered and my father tried to ask for calm from the aurors and put his hands up in surrender. The head auror, a skinny man with beady eyes looked at him and a flash of green light erupted out of his wand and hit my father square in the chest. He fell back and I didn't see him stand ever again. My mother shrieked in fear and a female auror let another flash of light out at her and my mother's screams echoed as she fell back onto the floor. I sat there, looking at them in fear, my parents were dead. I quietly ignored the screams of my other relatives as the aurors rounded them up and shot at them and got over to my father and began shaking him, waiting for him to wake up, but he wouldn't. "Adeline," I turned to see Callum looking at me frightened, "We have to go." I knew we did so I let him grab my hand and drag me from my parent's corpses. I looked at their faces one last time before turning and running with Callum.

He'd found Lucy and Marcel hiding in a closet with the house elves defending them. "Mistress over here," Fetch cried and opened up the kitchen shoot which led to the bins outside. Lucy hesitated but I could hear footsteps in the hall and I took her and threw her down the shoot and Marcel followed. Both Callum and I jumped down in time and fell onto the soft bin bags before jumping down. It was night outside and the stars were out. We could see in the field outside our home aurors were flying over the wild wheat field growing and my family trying to fight back. I saw my twin brothers trying to duel four fully trained aurors and I could see them losing. "NO!" I shrieked and rushed over to them. I hadn't been thinking – what could I have done? I was only half way when one of my brother's died and in no time at all my other brother was shot down too. I heard a shriek behind me and I turned to see one of the aurors had grabbed Lucy, but she was surrounded by the four house elves that ran our household. I rushed back and tried to pull Lucy away as the house elves began to die and Lucy shrieked, trying to wake them up, but two other aurors came and one pulled me by the hair onto the ground and shoved my face into the dirt. "Take the children and round them up in the field," one of the men said. They dragged us over and we kicked and screamed but we could do nothing. I saw my dead relatives all around me. Aunt May was face down in the dirt and I could see she would not wake up again. "No!" I turned to see my sister throw a hex at my capture and I was released from his grip. I red hex flew at my sister and suddenly, she began to bleed litres of blood out. She fell to the floor, her face going white. I shrieked and raced up to her "No, please, stay alive!" I cried looking at my sister. She smiled weakly at me and handed me something. I looked down to see her bracelet in my hand. I looked back up to see her eyes had dimmed and she was dead. I was dragged by the hair back to Lucy, Marcel and Callum. The cries and flashes of light were beginning to die down. Someone trudged into the clearing and I saw the Head Auror smirking at us "Only survivors?" he asked.

"Yes sir," one of the other aurors said.

"Tell the minister that we were attacked," he said. Lucy waled beside me, but I was too shaken to say anything. The remaining aurors all came out in front of us and I counted thirty two. Thirty two fully grown aurors against my unarmed family. They say emotions can sometimes heighten your senses and it's true because I remember every detail on their faces. I would _never_ forget those thirty two faces. "Somebody shut her up," the head auror said pointing to Lucy. One of the bulky men came up and was about to boot Lucy in the head but I threw myself at her and covered her up. A shield of sorts erupted out of me and covered her and the boot instead of hitting her, hit me and I fell to the floor and I blackened out.

I woke up and found myself back in my cramped room above the Hog's Head. That same dream haunted me all the time. I knew what happened next. I woke up to find Callum, Lucy and Marcel dead around me. They had probably assumed I was dead too, but they had made me suffer a much worse fate. I was the last survivor of my family, killed by corrupt aurors. I could do nothing but go back to my house and see if anyone had survived. Once there I saw robbers raiding my house. News of the massacre had spread and they wanted my family's possessions. When they saw me they chained me up and took me along with the possessions they had stolen. They were to sell me as a slave or a prostitute though I was only eight. They had stopped off at the Hog's Head for a drink and that was where I had met Uncle Abe. I knew my fate and had begged him to take me in. At first he was reluctant, but when he asked my name I had given him the false name of Ariana. I knew if I used my name the aurors would be back and they would kill me as well. It had been pure luck that had made it that his dead sister shared my name and due to that I was sold to Uncle Abe in return for the drinks the robbers had drunk. That had been three years ago. I had lived in the Hog's Head and helped Uncle Abe with the tavern for that time. Though we had a constant flow of usual customers, there was never really much money left to spend on things apart from essentials, so what I had found was that I could run 'errands' for these customers and they were more than happy to pay me quite generously. These errands usually included delivering packages and sometimes tailing people or gathering information and I found I was quite good at it too. Even after my family's massacre I would not call myself a Death Eater – no, I was not on anyone's side but my own. If a Death Eater was willing to pay me for my services then I would take it just as gladly as I would if an auror asked for my services. I knew it was dangerous working for both sides but since my parents had died I was simply waiting till my life also ended. If I were to die tomorrow at least it would put me out of my misery.

I got dressed and walked down to the tavern where my Uncle was already serving a few customers. For the customers of the Hog's Head even the morning was the right time to have a drink. I spotted a heavily hooded man and went up to him "Morning Uncle," I said smiling at him. I'd met him two years ago, he didn't say anything to anyone and nobody had ever seen his face. People were afraid of him and as a nine year old I had thought he was lonely because nobody wanted to play with him so I had befriended him. Nobody knew his name so I called him Uncle. At first he hadn't replied to my childish conversations but I had once gotten attacked by a dog outside the tavern and when I had come in, he'd healed me. Since then, I had grown close to him, but he was unreliable. He could sometimes be gone for months and you would think he was dead and he would just pop up out of nowhere again. This time he'd been gone for a few weeks. "You've grown," he murmured in his dark voice. I smiled

"My aims gotten pretty good too," I said as I began cooking some eggs for breakfast. It had been him who had introduced me to the idea of being an 'errand' girl to some of the customers at the tavern. It had also been him who had taught me how to fight the muggle way – so that even without a wand I would never, ever be as helpless as I had been the night my family had been murdered. He was also the only one that knew the complete extent of my identity. Though I had told Uncle Abe most of it, he still didn't know my real name. "Good," he said, sounding amused. He had stopped teaching me a couple of months ago saying the rest I would have to learn in real situations. The eggs fried and I served it up for Uncle Abe, Uncle and me. He handed me a galleon, but I pushed it back. I didn't except money from the little family I had. "I heard you'll be shopping for school supplies, you may need it," he said.  
"I have enough," I said.

"Is it that you have enough or you don't want to be dependent on anyone?" he asked. He knew me too well. Ever since the accident I realised I was on my own and I could only rely on myself. Being dependant on people was dangerous. Even with Uncle Abe, I would move out as soon as I turned seventeen. "Both," I answered. He poured not only that galleon but a pile of more on to the table. I knew better than to ask him where he got it from. He never spoke about his personal life. "Use it for me," he said, "I want my niece to look nice for her first day of school," he said.

"Even if I took it," I said, ignoring the pile as I saw a few of the other hungry customer's eying the money with greed, "I would save it up for another time," I said.

"I have plenty more of that," Uncle said, "Use it for today." I sighed and looked at the customers who were standing on their seats and took it before a bar fight ensued. "Will you come with me?" I asked, "To buy my wand?"

"I have business," he said, as usual, "And you've left it awfully last minute."  
"Well it's not like I'll be taking the train to Hogwarts – I mean it's right behind us and I could always come back for more supplies," I said. The school year would start off in tomorrow. He pulled out a completely covered hand from his cloak and produced a cage with a bird like thing which had four pawed limbs coming out of it "I heard you can take a pet," he said.

"A rat, a toad or an owl, not a runt griffon," I said taking the cage none the less. How had he found a griffon? No less how had he acquired a _baby_ griffon. Female griffons were known to get incredibly aggressive when they had cubs. You could tell if a griffon was a runt by its proportions. This one was far more eagle than it was lion and it was much smaller. "Abandoned," he said, answering my silent question, "It's body couldn't take its mother's milk. It's too much bird, not enough lion." I lifted up on my stool and kissed his fully covered cheek

"I love it," I said looking at the runt, "But it'll grow." He put his hand into the cage and showed the collar that was bound onto its neck. It was red with a charm inscribed on it stopping the griffon from growing any more than the size it was now. "Poor thing," I muttered, only hunters tended to put those types of collars onto their beasts, but I would not be pulling it off. A fully grown griffon frightened me more than the sympathy I felt for the beast saddened me. "Enjoy Hogwarts and make some friends. I always think you act much older than your age," he said.

"Friends are dangerous," I said, "I could accidentally tell them who I really am and they might put me in Azkaban for that." He remained silent for a moment and I could tell he too though it would be better if I didn't make friends, "I'm going to Hogwarts to make a living for myself and to learn to defend myself, nothing more. Hopefully by the time I'm out I can maybe join you in whatever it is you do," I said. I could see him exhale which showed he was laughing

"Do you want to be with me that much?" he asked.  
"You're the only family I have who likes me," I said.

"Abeforth does," he said.  
"No, I'm a replacement for his sister," I said, looking upset, "That's why he takes care of me."  
"Does it matter that you're a replacement? He still takes care of you," he said. I sighed

"Yeah, I guess it doesn't," I said, slowly.

"You should get going," he said, "The shops have opened."  
"Will you be back before I go to school?" I asked, hopefully.

"No," he admitted.

"I wish I knew where you lived, then I could write to you," I said. His wand came out and he cast a spell on my griffon "There, it'll be able to track me now," he said. I frowned

"That's dangerous," I said.

"Nobody really knows I exist, but you," he said, "Why would anyone want to track nothing?" I nodded "I'll write to you then, as often as I can," I said.

"Learn as much as you can Ariana. If you want to join me, you must be incredibly intelligent," he said. I nodded "I'll try," I said and bid him goodbye before putting the new griffon in my room and leaving to go shopping.

What had actually put me off from shopping for school supplies had not been laziness, but fear. I was frightened of picking up a wand. Ever since I had seen what they could do that night with my family, I was always afraid one day it would turn on me and finish the job the aurors had begun. Ollivander's in Diagon Ally was the best wand maker in the world – but it also had the highest prices so instead I was at the wand maker in Hogsmeade. "Miss Ariana," I looked up to see Gilbert smiling at me. He didn't drink at the Hog's Head but most of Hogsmeade knew of me anyways – some even asked errands of me like Gilberts. "Looking for a wand?" he asked. I nodded and he smiled "I was afraid you'd go off to Ollivander's for one," he said as he turned and looked around for a wand. He came back with a few boxes and the sight of them made me pale. He laughed "Frightened?" he asked. I nodded slowly "There's nothing to be afraid of. A wand is simply a doorway for the magic within you to flow through and into the world," he said. So it hadn't been the wand that had killed my family but the ones holding it. He handed me a wand and I took it slowly and flicked it. A porcelain cat fell off his table and landed on the floor. "How about this one," he said and handed me another wand. This went on for hours, literally as I practically tried everything in the shop till a smooth and sleek looking one fitted perfectly in my hand. I tried it out and everything I had broken in his office fixed itself back up. He smiled, his face red from the amount of things I'd broken. "That's odd. I always thought that wand would be a rather weak one," he said.

"Did you make it?" I asked.

"No, there are a few craftsmen who go around the world making wands. I purchased it off one of them to see how good their craft is. I didn't think it was any good," he admitted.

"I'll take it," I said, feeling the helplessness I had felt for the past three year's wain even more.

The rest of the shopping was easy and when I was done I put all of it in a trunk I had and went down to help my Uncle Abe. "Heard you're going to Hogwarts," Fin, one of the regulars said drunkenly. He was a werewolf, but a friendly one at that. "What house do you want to be in?" he asked.

"Don't care," I admitted as I cleaned the spilt ale off his table. He took out from his pocket a pretty quill "Here, for school," he said. He wasn't the only one to give me gifts. During the first year I had been adopted, I had been desperate for people to like me. I was so lonely ever since my family died and though I was frightened of people, not having them around made me feel empty. What had resulted was that most of the customers at the Hog's Head liked me quite a bit and even Uncle Abe had to admit I was quite safe in his tavern where these people would be more than happy to duel aurors to keep me safe. By the time I was done I actually wished I had left my shopping for the next day because they had all bought me a lot of my school supplies.

I sat in bed that night and went through my belongings. My books were second hand as was my robes, but the lady at the shop had been kind and hand altered quite nice robes – you could barely tell they weren't new. I now had enough quills, ink and parchment to supply me for a life time, but the customers had been generous and a lot of my quills were quite pretty. One of the richer customers – a smuggler who usually used me as an errands girl had actually bought me quidditch gear. I looked at the gloves and goggles and I wondered if I'd actually use them seeing as I didn't have a broom. I wasn't worried about school; in fact it was the same way you felt as going to jail for seven years of your life. It was just something you had to live through until it was over and you could use this time idly or you could use it to your advantage and I was definitely going to use it to my advantage. With that thought, I crawled into bed and slept in my bed for the last time in months.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Uncle Abe looked at me in my robes. He looked miserable "Nothing's going to happen," I said for the hundredth time "Nobody can do anything to me."

"Don't approach him at all," he said.  
"That's not possible. As soon as they read out my name's Ariana Dumbledore, he's going to get suspicious," I said. Suddenly Uncle Abe smirked

"I wish I could see his face when that happens. Finally, he can get haunted for what he did," he looked over at the portrait of his dead sister. So that's what I was to him? He wanted to use me to get back at his brother? It hurt knowing how he felt. "You need to get back to the pub," I said, "I'll write to you." He hugged me and I felt myself yearning for human contact. My father had hugged me a lot when I was little. He let go and I blinked back tears "Take care Ariana," he said. I nodded and left before I could get emotional.

I walked through Hogsmead and got to the station just as the train arrived brimmed with students, all wearing robes like mine. The half giant gamekeeper was waiting for us and he looked at me in surprise "Didn't think a kids come from Hog'mead," he said.  
"Yeah," I said, distantly not wanting to really speak to anyone. He began calling out for first years. I'd seen this happen three times in my life and knew the drill. The other first years seemed so excited to get to the castle. I had to admit, it was an amazing sight. I'd been in the castle many times before – there was a secret passage to it from my house and I'd explored the many corridors and gotten lost many times before only to magically appear again at the Room of Requirement where the passage was. "Come along," he said and I followed him over to the boats and got on one with a pretty red headed girl and a pale boy with long black hair. Someone touched my shoulder and I jumped as I saw a grumpy house elf grab the luggage I still had with me and haul it away without a word. I looked at it in awe, I hadn't seen a house elf in years and I thought about the house elves at my home. They had died protecting their masters. "Awfully serious about their jobs," the girl said. I looked up

"Yeah, they are," I mumbled.  
"I'm Lily Evans," she said, "And this is my friend Severus Snape."  
"Ariana," I said, leaving my last name off. I was dreading the sorting ceremony where everyone would find out my last name – still Dumbledore was better than having my _real_ last name read out and aurors coming to attack me, but it drew unwanted attention. "This is _so_ exciting," she said. She seemed like a sweet girl – somebody who wanted to make friends and I was making it difficult with my one word answers. I might as well entertain her for a little while, I thought to myself "Have you read any of the Hogwart guides?" I asked. Her eyes lit up when she realised I was going to make an effort to speak to her. "I have!" she said, "Have you read the part about the moving staircases?"

"I did, but I think my favourite part is the quidditch games."

"Oh, I heard about quidditch to think flying on broomsticks was actually real!" she squealed. I grinned "Muggle born?" I asked. The boy next to her tensed and I looked at him

"Muggle born, pure blood, it's all the same," I said quickly and he seemed to relax – seemed like the wizarding war was getting to people, I thought to myself. Lily's face had sobered "Watch your back," I warned her, "There are people who might take the fact your muggle born a little more seriously than I do."  
"I've heard about that too," she said, "Pure bloods do it right?" Typical muggle born, I thought to myself. They were so upset about us treating them badly, but they did the exact same to us purebloods, by grouping most pure bloods as followers of Lord Voldemort. "Not all pure bloods," I said.  
"Are you a pure blood?" she asked. This was the problem with making friends – they began asking questions that were too personal "Don't know," I said dismissively, "Have you heard about the secret passageways?" I said, changing the subject. She seemed more than happy to gush about the castle and when it came to talking about the houses, the boy next to her was more than happy to talk about Slytherin. The conversation was light and it reminded me of my siblings. I hadn't spoken to someone my age since my last conversation with Callum. My throat constricted and I stopped trying to think about my family, that was the past. The boats were docked and we were shuffled off to the castle.

We waited at a landing and Lily and Severus stayed close to me "I'm feeling kind of nervous," Lily admitted to Severus, "What happens if I don't get into Slytherin?"  
"No matter what you get into, it doesn't matter," the boy said, "we can still meet up." That seemed to make the girl relax. Severus seemed to dot over her like my brother's had once done. I looked away in time to see the doors open and an elderly woman I immediately recognised as Professor McGonagall come out to meet us. She'd almost caught me once while I had been snooping around the castle. "Welcome first years to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry," she said and began going on about school rules and how sorting would occur. I saw Lily begin to get nervous again "It's just like wearing a hat," I said, shrugging, but she looped her hand around my arm

"Maybe if I can't get into Slytherin, we'll be in the same dorm," she suggested.  
"Maybe," I said, "If not, I'm sure you make new friends too." She smiled, but Severus didn't seem to like that answer as he frowned at me. The doors were opened and we were ushered out and into the Great Hall. I'd always seen it empty, never did it look as grand as this with candles hovering in the air and older students cheering us with the banners of the respective houses flying in the air. We stood in front of the teachers and that was when I saw Albus Dumbledore. He looked quite similar to Uncle Abe – especially his eyes. His robes were rather flamboyant, nothing Uncle Abe would ever be caught dead in. He stood up "Welcome first year students," he said and instead of listening to his speech, I listened to his voice. It was nothing like Uncle Abe's. This Dumbledore had an authority in his voice that he hid with cheerfulness and there was no sound of misery or hurt. Did he not mourn for the fact that he had killed his sister? I frowned as I saw him sit down and get someone to read the names of the children to get sorted. I watched him as he scoured through the first year crowd – I knew what he was looking for. He'd read the list and seen Ariana Dumbledore on there. He was too cowardly to come and approach Uncle Abe himself so he was waiting to see who it was now that we were on his turf. I looked away from him – if he saw me staring he would know it was me and I wanted to see his surprise when I came out. "Black, Sirius," Professor McGonegell called. Black – I had known that name a life time ago. Sirius came out and sat on the chair and waited for the hat to be lowered nervously. I knew Sirius Black – we used to play together. He had been one of Marcel's best friends. He'd grown up to be quite handsome I saw. "Gryfindor!" the hat called and I looked at him in surprise, Black's _never_ got into Gryfindor. Suddenly, I felt nervous – would Sirius recognise me? No – he couldn't. In the past three years I had become a shell of the girl I had once been. I was skinnier, my hair had gotten bushier and I always had bags under my eyes from the nightmares that would chase sleep away. I looked away from the crowd and over at the Slytherin table and began scouring their faces – I knew quite a few of them. I knew there would be some pure bloods who would remember me but not this many. My stomach sank, would they tell anyone? I listened to the rest of the names being called out, waiting to hear other people I knew. "Dumbledore, Ariana," Professor McGonagall cried, her voice squeaking slightly. A hush fell on the crowd and I looked up to see Albus Dumbledore looking at the crowd with just as much anticipation as the rest of the students. It was too late to turn and run now. I would have to face this situation on my own. I took a deep breath and stepped up looking right up at Albus. His eyes centred on me as I got up the stairs and took to the seat. His gaze would have been piercing to anyone else but me, but I'd been used to looking at Uncle Abe's eyes. I lifted the hat on my own and sat down, satisfied with the look of shock and put it on my head. My tanned skin and brown eyes made me look completely different to the actual Ariana Dumbledore, but the name was all I needed. The hat sunk on my head and I waited. "Dumbledore aye?" it called. I froze '_Don't you dare'_ I growled in my head and it huffed a laugh. I didn't want it revealing my real name. "Mm, have a little bit of everything don't you – intelligence, bravery, kindness…ambition," it said slowly. That was right, I was ambitious. I had to be if I wanted to survive in the real world on my own. "So much ambition - and potential to match. It will be interesting to see what the next Dumbledore does with it. I guess I better put you in SLYTHERIN!" I pulled it off my head and walked over to the stunned table of Slytherin's. Nobody was clapping for me, they were just as shock that I was a Dumbledore. I purposefully sat away from the first years, but with the pure blood group I saw in the centre of the table – I knew these people and by the look of recognition on some of their faces, they remembered me.

The shock soon was gone and the sorting continued. The girl Lily was put into Gryffindor and the boy Serverus came with me into Slytherin. Dumbledore got up and made a speech before letting the food appear on the table. "Ariana _Dumbledore_?" Bellatrix Lestrange asked, "You're supposed to be dead." I had to think quickly – I knew that there had been a chance of people recognising me easily in this school – pure bloods and I was ready for an answer for them "No, the real me is dead," I said, "And I think you should keep it that way." She smirked

"You have a lot of explaining to do," she said.

"Not now," I said, "Not while the headmaster is watching." She grinned and allowed me to eat my meal in silence.

The Slytherin prefects got us down to the dungeons where our common room was. I saw green fire in the fireplace. "Okay kiddies, time to get to bed – now!" Bellatrix may not have been a prefect, but she seemed to command the House as they all scurried to follow her orders. Those who remembered me stayed. "They said you were massacred," she said, finally when they were gone.  
"We were. I was knocked out, they thought I was dead," I said, then explained what had happened.

"Abeforth Dumbledore? Barely heard of him," Lucius Malfoy said sitting on the couch in the common room. "He hates Albus Dumbledore just about as much as most of you do," I said

"What? Sibling rivalry?" Bella asked, amused

"Albus killed someone dear to him," I said, "Her name was Ariana. My job's to haunt him." Bella laughed maniacally. "I'm sorry Adeline," Narcissa Black said, "Your sister was a good friend of mine. I cried for weeks when I found out you'd all died."

"I need you to keep quiet for now," I said, "I don't want aurors coming back to finish the job."  
"Frightened are we?" Bellatrix asked. She always had an odd personality

"Give me seven years," I said, "Once I learn the spells I won't be frightened anymore."  
"I'm not frightened of a few aurors," Bella said, snorting

"Then do me a favour and kill them for me," I said shortly, "If you can't do that then at least keep my identity a secret." Bella smiled

"I'll be killing aurors soon," she said. She'd made it no secret she'd become a Death Eater. Why was it that they didn't kill her family, but they had killed mine? I smiled "If I find out their names I'll tell you and you can do me a favour and make their deaths particularly painful for me," I said. She laughed again

"I never thought cute little Adeline Westwood would be so interested in murder," Bella said.  
"I woke up clutching my little sister's dead body in my hands Bella, what did you expect?" I hissed, memories of her pale face haunted my conscious. She jumped up "Interested in becoming a Death Eater?" she asked. I was faster than her in thinking and was prepared for that question

"I'm weak as a first year. Wait till I'm stronger. If your leader gives me the right to kill my family's murderers than I'm more than happy to join you," I said. She laughed again

"Having you here will be fun," she said, but I could tell she'd already made her mind to keep my identity a secret. "We can't be seen speaking to each other. Dumbledore will be keeping a close eye on me," I told her, "Just treat me as a stranger – a weak first year. I don't want him delving into my past."  
"Annoying, isn't he?" Lucius growled.

"What about Sirius Black?" I asked Bella and Narcissa, "What the hell is he doing in Gryffindor?" Bella suddenly turned red in embarrassment "He's a blood traitor. I always knew what he'd be, but today it seems he's confirmed it," she said. I could see the other non-Black pure bloods look at Bella and Narcissa with disgust. Though Bella was a family friend, I hadn't really cared much for her but I knew she had importance in this school by the way the Slytherin's looked at her and I needed her on my side "Why are you embarrassed? If he's a traitor to his blood, he's a traitor to the House of Black. As far as I see it, he's no relative of yours any longer. That's what happens to blood traitors, isn't it? Or have you people already forgotten the ways of the pure blood families?" The Westwood Family had always been a strong one. You could see it in the wealth we had commanded and the status we once had among the pure blood families. My family hadn't cared much for the Blood rules, but we'd learnt it none the less. The other people in the room reluctantly agreed, they couldn't deny the rules and Bella smiled "Do you know if he remembers me?" I asked, continuing on

"He wouldn't, none of us could recognise you until Narcissa pointed you out," Lucius said.

"You look emaciated," Bella admitted.

"Good," I said. If he was a blood traitor, that would mean there was a chance he would go to the authorities and tell them about me, but even if he recognised me, we had once been friends of sorts – or well I was the sister of his friend, but still he and Marcel would sometimes try and join forces to beat me in chess so we'd play together. He had a short temper and would end up throwing the board and I would have to pick up very angry chess pieces off the ground, but he wouldn't tell on me, would he? I went up to the dorms and found myself a remaining bed near the window and my things had been placed there. "You're the Dumbledore girl right?" a girl asked. I turned

"By name only," I said, shortly before changing into my dressing gown and crawling into bed. It was so big here, everything was and being in a dorm full of rich pure blood girls meant most of my belongings looked out of place compared to their rich, designer goods. Even if I had said during my stay that I didn't want make friends, there was a part of me that did. I was yearning to talk to other children, to regain part of the old me that had been lost when my family died. I turned myself around in bed and told myself that as long as I made sure not to reveal much about myself, it should be fine to make friends.

…

The next morning everyone whispered about me, but nobody spoke _to_ me, it seemed Professor Dumbledore was not a well-liked man in Slytherin. Bella kept her promise as did all the other pure bloods who knew me and pretended not to know who I was. I made my way to the Great Hall and Professor Slughorn, the potions teacher handed me my timetable "Ariana Dumbledore," he said, looking at me intrigued, "I'm very interested in hearing your story. Feel free to come to my office any time," he said. My sister had been one of his 'favourite' pupils. They had a little club of sorts where he would try and help people mingle with people who could help them attain 'greatness'. "Thank you sir," I said shortly. I didn't know what I'd do with that invitation. Perhaps I would need his help becoming stronger, but I certainly didn't want him listening to my story. An owl flew in and landed in front of me. It took a lot of strength not to jump out of my seat and jump into Professor Slughorn's arms. It offered me its leg and I took the letter from it and read it

_Dear Ariana,_

_I would like to request an appointment with you this morning in my office. I trust you know where to find it._

_P.S. I thoroughly enjoy Chocolate Frogs_

_Albus Dumbledore._

I knew this was going to happen. I looked over at the Headmaster's chair and saw it was empty. He was waiting for me. The letter had also told me that he knew I'd spent the last three years snooping in the castle when I wasn't allowed to. I got up and left my seat on the table and walked over to his office. I climbed up the stairs 'Chocolate Frogs' I called and the door opened and I was allowed it. He was alone when I got thereand was sitting behind his table "Please sit," he said and I did as I was told

"I trust you know why I've called you," his usual flamboyant nature had fizzled and he looked at me seriously. "Has it something to do with my last name?" I asked. He frowned and I was internally gleeful at his discomfort "Abeforth Dumbledore adopted me," I said, "I took his name."  
"Is Ariana your real name?" he asked.  
"No – I don't remember what my real name is," I lied.

"How so?" he asked.  
"I don't know. I remember waking up at his doorstep and that's it," I said, "I was abandoned and it seems someone cast a memory charm on me."  
"He named you Ariana?" he asked. I nodded, Uncle Abe had gone through my alibi with me already. "How long ago did this happen?" he asked.  
"Three years ago," I said.

"Same time you seemed to be visiting the castle," he said,  
"Sorry about that, I got bored," I said.  
"Do you know anything about the real Ariana?" he asked.

"That you killed her and she was your sister," I admitted. He remained silent for a moment and I realised I'd hurt him. Guilt swept through me "Is it true?" I asked. Silence followed

"Yes," he admitted.

"I-I didn't think you cared," I blurted out. He looked up

"A death is a death. Everybody cares," he said. No they didn't, I thought to myself. I was sure the aurors who'd killed my parents didn't "Was it an accident?" I asked, this had always intrigued me.

"Abeforth didn't tell you?" he asked, surprised. I shook my head and he avoided eye contact "I was duelling somebody. She came in, wanting to help and I killed her," he said.

"An accident," I said, looking down at my feet, "Ariana is the only name I have, I'm sorry if it reminds you of your sister, but I'll do my best to stay out of your way to help stop painful memories."  
"On the contrary," he said and I looked up, "If there is anything you need at all please do not hesitate to come and ask me, after all it seems I am your uncle now." Of all the reactions I thought he would have after meeting me, offering to help me had not been one of them. "O-okay," I said, shaken, "Thanks."

"I didn't think it would be in my brother to adopt a child," he said, "I guess people surprise you."  
"It would seem so," I muttered thinking of everything I had learnt about Uncle Abe's brother. He laughed "Seems your more a Dumbledore than you think," he said, "Always lost in thought."  
"I should get going," I said feeling uncomfortable, "But – if it's alright with you, I'd like to learn more about you." He smiled warmly at me "Of course, come in any time," he said. I nodded and turned and walked out of the office. Once outside, I sunk to the floor – what a horrible person I had been! I had come here, without knowing the man and looked on in glee as I reminded him of his past mistakes and hurt him. He was trying to be kind to me. If my father saw me today I knew he'd be disappointed in me – who knew he could be watching this instant. From now on I would be kind to Professor Dumbledore and I knew exactly how to do that – stay away from him. I would remind him of his sister no matter what I did so I just had to keep my head low for the next seven years. With that thought in mind I rushed off to my first class.

I made it to the dungeons just as a ghost glided by. I always had a bit of a grudge against ghosts – out of all the family members that had died that night, none of them came back as ghosts. Not even my parents who had been worried about their children. It seemed the Westwood Family was a proud family, too proud to fear death. "Ariana," I turned to see a familiar red head smiling at me. Potions would be the first class with Gryffindor "You never told me you were a Dumbledore," she said, gasping. At that word people joined her in ogling at me "I'm adopted," I said sheepishly as I stood beside her, waiting for the door to open and let us in. "Did the headmaster adopt you?" Severus, her friend asked.

"No, Abe Dumbledore," I said, "Professor Dumbledore's brother."  
"I didn't even know he had a brother," Lily admitted.

"Well we'll see today if you _deserve_ the name of Dumbledore," a girl next to Lily said.

"Um this is Alice," Lily said, "She's in Gryffindor with me." I didn't exactly live a pampered life in the Hog's Head, but one thing nobody did was speak to me like that girl did. I ignored her and focused on Severus "I'm sorry I didn't see you last night," I said.  
"No, we were all ushered out, it seemed Bellatrix wanted to talk to someone," he said, "Do you know who?" I shook my head

"I was actually going to ask you the same thing," I lied.

"Oh look who it is, the Slytherin lover," I turned to see a pale boy with glasses smirking at Severus. I froze when I saw who was behind him – Sirius Black. I guess, this was my leap of faith. "Lily was it? Good to see you got into Gryffindor," he said, "Prove you aren't a sly bastard. Right Sirius?"  
"Right," Sirius chimed, grinning. He used to chime in with Marcel back home. Did Sirius even miss my brother? That thought hurt "Leave them alone," Lily cried, "They're my friends." Really? Did Lily think of us as friends? It warmed my heart as I turned back to Sirius. His eyes scanned the room and landed on me. My breath caught, did he remember me? I waited there, waiting for him to call my name out and he smirked "Like what you see?" he asked me. I let out a sigh of relief, he didn't know me. "Sorry, I thought you were somebody else," I said, dismissively. A part of me hurt that he hadn't remembered me. He'd been so close with my brother. "Good, cause with a face like that I wouldn't be caught dead within a hundred miles of you," he said. I turned surprised at his insult

"You're disgusting, get away from us – Ariana, you're beautiful," Lily said, making the situation a lot worse. "This is Ariana Dumbledore?" Sirius asked surprised and him and the glasses boy surveyed me "Was expecting something-" Sirius began

"Better," the boy finished

"And more Gryffindor," Sirius added. It was like the two of them shared one brain

"What's so bad about being a Slytherin?" I asked, confused.

"Everything," James and Sirius said in unison

"Nothing," Lily said, turning a shade of red that matched her hair. She seemed to be getting angry

"You'd better watch out Lily, they're sly, cunning folk. They'll stab you in the back when they get the chance," James said

"Yeah especially you, talk around here says you're a muggle born," Sirius said.

"Ariana might be a muggle born too!" Lily cried, "Right?"  
"I don't remember," I admitted, feeling the now heated glares from the Slytherin's in line. Maybe trying to befriend Lily was _not_ a good idea. The door swung open and Professor Slughorn beamed at us "Come in, children," he called and we did as we were told and stood at the back of the room as asked. "Now, to have some of you know each other better I'm going to assign seats to you all," he said. Nobody complained, how could they? The prospect of knowing people better was too good to pass up. He began calling out names and I waited to hear who I would be partnered up with eagerly – maybe it would be a Slytherin whom I could befriend. "Ariana Dumbledore – Sirius Black," my face drained in colour as I looked at the once kind, but handsome boy looking at me with a smirk – I could tell he would enjoy making my life hell. We sat next to each other by the corner of the dungeon and I sat on the very edge of my seat, trying to get as far away from him as possible. His friend sat in front of him and immediately turned to see him "Ha, you got stuck with a Slytherin," he said, not at all embarrassed to say it right in front of me. "I don't understand why you don't like Slytherin," I said bravely, voicing my opinion, "I mean aren't you a Black?" Suddenly the quill he had in his hand slammed down and I yanked my hand away as it embedded in the table where my hand had been. "Wanna repeat what you just said?" he asked darkly.

"No," I said quietly. I may have changed my identity, but Sirius' personality had completely changed. He was nothing like Marcel's friend. Professor Slughorn began righting instructions on the table. It was a stain vanishing potion. I grinned, I'd made it before. I read through the instructions on the board and as soon as he asked us to go, I bolted to the cupboard to get the supplies before coming back to the cauldron and doing what the potion required. Sirius did nothing but stare at me. Internally, I was worried he would remember who I was. Obviously, by his personality, I could no longer trust him to remain silent. "Is there something on my face?" I asked, finally, looking at him.

"Nothing but a whole lot of ugly," he answered, childishly. I began twirling the contents in the cauldron "Awfully skilled for a muggle born," he said.

"I'm not a muggle born," I answered, "I just don't remember my parents."  
"Huh, lucky," he muttered. I glanced at him – he hated him parents? When did that happen?

"What do you mean?" I dared.

"Listen, you seem awfully interested in me," he said, "I just want to tell you I'm not interested." I turned bright red "Do you even know what that means?" I cried, "You're like ten!" He smirked and I realised he'd wanted me to yell at him, it gave him an excuse to get angry. His wand came out and I flinched – I'd seen someone give that look with a wand in their hands. "I-I didn't mean t-t-to make you mad," I said, stuttering.

"Frightened?" he asked. I waited for the flash of green light or the Crucio spell which would send me screaming into a fit of pain. "Ariana, amazing!" I turned to see Professor Slughorn grinning and I let out a gasp of relief as I was saved by him. "You truly are a Dumbledore," he laughed, "20 points to Slytherin." Cheering erupted from the Slytherin's in the room and Sirius shot me a murderous look. I gulped as I served it up and used it to clean a stain on Professor Slughorn's robes. "Ariana, I would really appreciate it if you came to a little luncheon I'm having for some new students," he said.

"Sure," I said, glad to agree to just about whatever he asked of me at the moment "What time?"  
"Friday evening," he said, "My office." He trotted away and I felt myself tense again  
"Saved by the teacher," Sirius muttered, loud enough for me to hear. I didn't know what had happened to Sirius, but he was no longer the boy who used to come to play at our house and I needed to stay away from him not because he'd realise who I was, but because he frightened me. I didn't understand why he hated Slytherin's so badly, but I certainly wasn't curious enough to find out. When class was over I bolted out of the room and tried to avoid Sirius for the rest of the day, which thankfully was easy as the other classes were all shared with either Ravenclaw's or Hufflepuffs. During this entire time I was either ignored or whispered about because of my last name. When I got to dinner, I sat there miserably as I realised just how hard it was for someone like me to make friends. I had half a mind to go up and sit next to Bella, but I knew better then that. Instead, I got up and walked over to the library. If I couldn't make friends, then it was better to try and do what I had originally wanted to do and become the smartest person in my year – that way the good jobs and courses would pile over themselves to have me – they might even wave the admissions fee.

The library was wonderful and I ended up reading half the transfiguration text book, intrigued with all the spells. I turned my second hand quill into a coaster and back and was surprised to see how easily the spells came to me. I realised the possibility of managing to do three maybe even four years of study into one year, for any other student it would seem like a nightmare, but for me it would be freedom. Nobody could touch me if I did that. By the end of third year, I would be able to attack anybody who wanted to harm me. "First year!" I turned to see the librarian calling me, "It's time to go."

"Right, thank you," I said, "You have a lovely library." She smiled at me and I put my books away and walked back to the Slytherin dorm.

Being an 'errand girl' and doing some illegal work meant I could read my surroundings easily. You had to, to make sure aurors weren't crawling around and putting their noses into your business and it was this sense that made me realise something was wrong as I walked to the Slytherin dorm. I shrunk back into the shadows and turned a corner to see glasses boy and Sirius Black aiming their wands at Severus Snape. "This'll teach you to stop hanging around a Gryfindor you conniving little snake," the glasses boy growled. I looked at Severus and for a moment he disappeared and he looked like Marcel looking up at the aurors in fear. My body reacted on its own as I jumped out of the shadows and covered Severus with my body "Leave him alone!" I cried. The two boys looked surprised but Sirius immediately regained his composure "Volunteering to take the attack for him?" Sirius asked, "I don't mind hexing you too." I frowned and looked down at their wands, what had I done?

"Please just leave him alone," I begged, "He hasn't done anything – I haven't done anything!" His wand jabbed into my neck "It's enough you exist, Slytherin," Sirius growled. I looked at him

"You hate me because I'm a Slytherin? Being a Slytherin means nothing but being ambitious," I cried, "How can you hate someone for that?"  
"Shut up," Sirius growled, "Trying to talk your way out of a hexing, no wonder you've been put into Slytherin." I closed my eyes as he called something, waiting for him to finish the jobs of the aurors who had culled my family. Suddenly my nose felt sore. I opened my eyes and something fell out of it and I looked to see a bat. I sneezed and something else came out of it and I saw another bat – the bat-bogey hex? If it hadn't been for the fact I was so relieved I was alive, I would have been embarrassed. I saw them hex Severus' legs together before walking off. I took out my wand and muttered an incantation I'd seen Abeforth use to get rid of spells. It worked for the bat-bogey hex and Severus' leg locking one. "Are you okay?" I asked.

"I could have handled it myself," he said, brushing me off

"Well would you mind walking me back to the Slytherin dorms? _I'm _kind of scared," I said. He didn't say anything but waited for me to join him before we walked back to the dorms. "I can't believe they did that to us because we were Slytherins," I cried, "Being a Slytherin doesn't mean anything!"

"Ever since Lord Voldemort has come to power, nobody likes Slytherins," Severus said, "It's just a fact of life that we follow him." I had noticed that the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws also kept their distance from us. Didn't they see that through doing that, it was forcing Slytherin's to join each other? I mean who would want to support somebody who hated them? "I didn't think it would be bad enough for us to get hexed," I admitted  
"Surprise," he said sarcastically. I frowned, I had snooped around the castle, but I didn't realise just how segregated Hogwarts was – and it seemed I was now part of the minority.

* * *

_Hey guys, this is my first fanfiction and I really hope you like it. If you have any comments about my writing style please tell me or if you like the story!_

_Thanks!_


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The rest of the week went by with no friends made – in fact I'd lost friends. Lily no longer spoke to me, too caught up in her new Gryffindor friends and with Lily not around Severus had no reason to speak to me either. I spent every afternoon going through the syllabus of the year. I was already on transfiguring live animals. By Friday, I found even Professor Dumbledore had lost interest in me. Maybe Professor Slughorn would remember, I thought as I put on my nicest dress –which wasn't very nice at all and made my way to his office. There were many faces I didn't know, but I spotted Lily and Severus among the mix. I didn't know what to say to them anymore so I hung around the back, trying not to be seen, which worked quite well because nobody noticed me.

During the entire luncheon people talked over me, not really wanting to speak to me. I felt dismal and began thinking of what it would be like if I hadn't been a Slytherin. Professor Slughorn even seemed to forget of my existence. The one person I wanted to forget me was Sirius and he was the only one who didn't. During Slughorn's classes I was constantly alert, waiting for him to try and stab me with his quill or make me trip over my own feet. Around the corridors I'd see him hexing Slytherins, his gang had increased with two other boys joining him. Each time he did that, I couldn't help myself but defend the people he hexed which would result in me getting hexed and I would reverse the spells on the victims and they would forget about me, no thank you was ever spoken.

It was during the third week that my griffon runt brought me a letter. I scratched its head and expected it to have come from Uncle, but I could see by the plain paper that I was wrong. My griffon – Cairo I had named it, was about to attack a mound of meat, but I barked at it to come back and put some meat on my plate for it to devour as I took the letter and began reading it. It was from Ingrid, a Death Eater who came to the Hog's Head.

_Dear Ariana,_

_I sincerely hope you are enjoying your school year at Hogwarts but am hopeful you are also still in the errands business. I have an envelope I need delivering. The skies are being searched by the ministry so I need it to be done by hand. It is an absolute necessity that this envelope is received by Barty Crouch Junior. As you already know he is quite close to Barty Crouch Senior and thus the pay for such a job is high if you choose to accept it._

_Please send me a letter with your answer and I will send you the package_

_Ingrid._

I know I should deny it, but all this loneliness was baring me in, I wanted to get out so I agreed and sent Cairo out straight away. It was only after Cairo was gone that I realised what I had done – I would have to go to the Ministry of Magic to find Barty Crouch Junior and what was waiting for me at the Ministry was the Auror office – no, I wasn't going. I'd deliver this letter another way, I had to, I needed the money anyways. It was mid-afternoon when Cairo came back. I picked the letter off its foot and saw no instructions, save for an address – a home address thankfully and floo powder. I would go tonight, finish this work then come back and nobody would know.

I went to the library and pulled out an amazing map of London. It was an ever changing map that showed all the streets. I put my hand on it and thought about the address I was looking for and it came up. It was in central London unsurprisingly and I spotted a pub near it – that was the best place to floo in. I pulled the map away and went back to my dorms and put a pair of trousers and a shirt on before walking down to the Room of Requirement. I knew it better than the back of my hand because I used it to get into Hogwarts when I wasn't allowed. I thought of a fireplace and a door appeared the third time I crossed it and I opened it to find a giant fireplace with a couple of chairs around it. I walked into the fireplace and turned "Duncan's Irish Pub, Central London," I cried and threw the floo powder down. Green flames erupted and I felt my body begin to spin as I was transported out of Hogwarts.

The fireplace at Duncan's Irish Pub was incredibly cramped and I had to wriggle my way out. Anybody who'd seen the green flames was too drunk at the moment to remember and if they did, nobody would believe what they had seen. I casually walked out of the pub and began walking down the street. It was a nice place, pretty high class for muggles. I saw the Crouch residency and stayed a good distance away and simply sat on the bus bench waiting in the summer night for somebody to come out. I certainly couldn't go in, or else I would be handing the letter in front of his father and I was certain he wouldn't want that. I couldn't actually believe that he was a Death Eater. A _Crouch_? I'd read about his father, a strict no-nonsense fellow. According to the talk in the Hog's Head if you were on trial with him as the judge, you were done for. The light was on and I could see shadows, they seemed to be entertaining. Good, it would mean they would come out tonight. I was content to watch two cats fight each other in front of me as I waited for the Crouches to come out. I felt relaxed and free here, away from the people who hated me in Hogwarts. I was snapped out of this trance by the door of the Crouch's house opening. I looked over to see a couple saying goodbye. Barty Crouch Jr. was also out, looking eager to speak to the couple - more eager than his father. I quickened my pace as I walked over the door. I made it seem like I was simply going for a stroll down the lane as I walked towards the door. Barty spotted me and I quickly signalled for him to come to me before pretending like it hadn't happened. I turned to see the man from the couple looking at me and I looked up in time to see Orion Black before avoiding eye contact and walking by quickly. I rounded the corner and waited, my heart beating, had Orion Black noticed me? Did he know me? A heard footsteps and my breath caught as I looked up, but was relieved to see Barty Crouch Jr. "What do you want?" he asked, staring at me eagerly. I produced the letter  
"This is from Ingrid, it was my job to pass it along, remember, we never met," I said, handing him the letter. He grabbed my hand and pulled at my sleeve, hoping to see the Dark Mark. "You think a Death Eater's going to come within a hundred metres of your house?" I scoffed, "I'm a messenger, nothing more."

"How can I trust you?" he asked

"That's not up to you, it was up to Ingrid," I said and walked past him. He shifted his weight and was about to grab onto me when I saw Orion Black round the corner. "I was wondering where you'd gone to," he said to Barty, "Your father's waiting." He gave me a warning glare before turning and walking off. I looked over at Orion who was staring at me. As soon as Barty was gone Orion rushed up to me, got onto his knees and threw his arms around me "I thought you were dead," he cried and pulled away from me to kiss my forehead before hugging me again. I hadn't been hugged in years. I remembered Orion as the man who smelt just like my father – the two of them had been quite close seeing as the Westwood's and Black's were of the same social stature. I sniffed his familiar scent and tears welled in my eyes and I wrapped my arms around him and broke into tears. I loved Uncle Abe for keeping me and I was truly grateful, but I missed this feeling of family. "You poor girl," he murmured stroking my head as I cried for being left alone in this world. He took no time in picking me up and whistling lowly for his car to come. "W-where are you taking me?" I asked, confused

"Home," Orion answered, "With me." Walberga was in the car and she got out to see what had happened. She was not like Orion or my mother. She was a strict woman with very strict ideas about how life should be lived. "What an earth are you doing?" she cried. Orion gently pried my head from his shoulder and showed it to his wife "It's Adeline," he said, "Adeline Westwood, she's alive." Even Walberga was surprised and she let her mothering side take over as she wiped my face quickly, before going back to her usual composure. "I can't go," I said, though ever part of me wanted to go with Orion. "Adeline, where have you been? They said there had been no survivors – what happened?"

"They killed us all," I said, choking back tears, "My family wanted to surrender, but they killed us. They didn't even leave Lucy behind." I'd never been able to mourn properly for my family until now, where I had someone to listen to me. Orion immediately pulled me in again and I cried in his shoulder "You poor, poor thing," Orion said. I looked up to see Orion's face not filled with sympathy but misery – he had been one of my father's closest friends and I could tell his death had hurt him deeply. "I promised your father if anything happened to you I'd take care of you," Orion said, "Why didn't you come to find me?"  
"If they find out I'm alive they'll kill me – I witnessed it all, if I testified, they'd be sent to Azkaban," I said. I could tell by Orion's face he knew even if I testified, none of the aurors present that day would be going to jail – the ministry needed them now and were willing to overlook their sins. "Nobody must know I'm alive. I'm Ariana from now on," I said.

"Well you can be Ariana Black," Orion said

"I'm already Ariana Dumbledore. Abeforth Dumbledore has adopted me," I said, "I'll be safe with him – the name of Dumbledore will also make sure the aurors won't harm me." He could tell I'd thought this through. "At least spend the night," Orion said, "Regulus is home, do you remember him?" I smiled, Regulus had been Marcel's other friend, closer to him than Sirius in fact – probably due to the fact Marcel was only one year younger than Regulus unlike the two Sirius was. He had been a sweet boy, but a quiet one, always shy when girls spoke to him. "I can't," I said, "I'm supposed to be in Hogwarts."

"What are you doing out here?" he asked, frowning

"Running errands," I said. He looked over at the Crouch Residency worried

"If its money you need, I can send it to you," he said, "Don't reduce yourself to this."  
"I don't need money," I lied, I didn't want to be a burden "I need to go back." Orion held me tightly one more time before releasing me "If you need anything at all you _will_ tell me understood?" he asked, passionately. I nodded and he got up "Come visit me over the break," he said, "I want to see you. Forgive me for not realising you lived sooner, I would have taken you in."

"It's okay, goodbye," I said, walking off. The Blacks looked at me with worry as I rushed back to the pub and squeezed myself back into the fireplace and disappeared back to Hogwarts.

I raced out of the Room of Requirement and ran head first into a girl outside. I jumped back, surprised "I'm so sorry," I said, it was way past curfew and I could tell she was a first year too. "Floo powder," she muttered. I frowned and realised I was covered in the stuff. I got up immediately "You won't tell anyone will you?" I asked, letting a threatening tone slip through. She paled "N-n-no, I was just going to the bathroom," she said. That was a lie. We had bathrooms in the dorms.  
"Good," I said and turned and walked off.

During that night I cried in my bed. Why hadn't I gone to Orion to begin with? My father hadn't left me completely alone in this world. I still had Orion and he was a man as similar to my father as anybody else could be. Still not quite as kind, but still a fatherly figure. Even Walberga seemed to be genuinely glad I was still alive and well. I closed my eyes, feeling the emptiness within me decrease slightly.

The next morning I went down to breakfast and scanned the table to find the girl I had bumped into the other night sitting on her own. I kept a safe distance away from her and began eating breakfast, content with knowing she wouldn't blow my cover. I'd hated the fact I had had to use force, but I couldn't afford to be kind. Cairo came flying in and I unwrapped the package to find 25 galleons in there. I grinned as I pocketed it and set down to write a letter to Uncle. I wasn't going to lie to him, I told him about the harshness of Hogwarts and my new found invisibility and the hurt I felt. I gave the letter to Cairo "Take it to Uncle," I said and it immediately jumped up and flew away. A good thing about the cub was it didn't tire as quickly as the owls did – that and it was near impossible to snatch a griffon out of the air and search it, even if it was a baby. When I looked up I saw the girl staring at me. I frowned and avoided eye contact, as I got up and went down to potions.

She tailed me as I made my way to class. I rounded a corner and waited for her and she almost bumped into me "What do you want?" I asked.

"Oh – we're in the same class," she said, nervously. I looked at her in surprise

"You want to talk?" I asked, confused.

"Well I mean, I've seen you around and you seem kind of lonely and I don't know – I'm kind of lonely too," she said, laughing nervously. She wanted to be friends? I thought in surprise  
"So you were following me the other day, that's why you were outside the door?" I asked. She grinned sheepishly "I thought it would be a nice place – to talk," she said. I analysed her face and could tell she was telling the truth "I'm Ariana," I said.

"Yelena," she replied. I walked over to potions and she walked beside me "Can I ask what you were doing yesterday?" she asked.

"No," I answered shortly. We got to potions and I found people had gone in, I stopped at the door "Listen Yelena, its better if you pretend not to know me in there, Sirius Black seems to have a personal vendetta against me."

"I've noticed," she said and I wondered just how long she'd been watching me "I don't mind." She may not, but I certainly did. I was actually touched that someone had come up to become friends with me and I didn't want her to get hurt. We got into class and I walked over to Sirius in the corner. "Decided to grace me with your presence?" he asked. I ignored him and settled down and pulled all my things out and arranged them onto the table. Sirius, as usual, flicked them away and I used my wand to clean it all up and put it back onto my table. I wasn't as frightened of him anymore now that I knew he wasn't going to use an Unforgivable Curse, but he could still be incredibly annoying and nobody in class would stop him. I found all the Ravenclaw's, Hufflepuff's and Gryffindor's actually found Sirius' behaviour hilarious and egged him on and the Slytherin's were indifferent. I felt something snap against me and I saw him intently flicking his fingers on my face. I tried to pull away, but he continued, waiting for me to get mad, but I knew better. Getting mad meant he'd hex me. "Now to hand back your test results," Professor Slughorn said. I waited eagerly as he caused the papers to fly into the air and land in front of us. 100% I'd gotten. I looked down to see Sirius' and saw 97%. It irked me to know he didn't study and still got high grades, but as long as he didn't beat me I was fine. "What are you looking so smug about," Sirius said and snatched the paper from my hand. He saw the perfect score and grabbed his wand and I managed to snatch it back before a flame erupted from his wand. "Congratulations Miss Ariana and Mr Severus for perfect scores," he said, "20 points each to Slytherin." We were ahead on the scales, especially seeing as Sirius and glasses boy – known as James Potter, seemed to always get marks deducted when the teacher's saw them bullying Slytherins. You'd think they'd take it seriously, but no. All they got was a slap on the wrist. Even the teacher's didn't like us. I could see Lily look at me jealously – see what was so bad about Slytherin? Even Lily was ambitious enough to want to be top of the class, but she wasn't bullied was she? No because she was a Gryffindor. Could I really be blamed for Lord Voldemort's and the Death Eaters? It seemed Hogwarts did.

Class finally finished and I walked out as quickly as I could. I'd dawdled once and Sirius had put a leg binding hex on me – a particular complex one that had me jumping to the library to get it off, much to the amusement of the people in the hallways. "Ariana, wait up!" I turned to see Yelena racing after me, I also saw Sirius smirk at me and the minute Yelena caught up, I threw her roughly into the broom cupboard next to me and pretended she hadn't been there "Ari-Ari-Ariana!" Sirius sung and James grinned and followed him "Seems Lily was a bit upset you beat her in a test," James said, "We can't have that now can we?" It was like their presence was magic as a group of Gryffindor's crowded around me, grinning. "It was fair and square," I said, "I studied for that test."  
"There's no such thing as fair and square for a Slytherin now is there," Sirius purred grinning and his wand was already out "Besides, there's a new spell me and James have found out about in Charms and I'm really eager to see its long term effects," he said. I sighed and closed my eyes

"Do your worst," I muttered. I wasn't going to fight back – after all wouldn't that just prove to them I was just some violent Slytherin. I heard him mutter a hex and a gaggle of laughs went around the crowd. I touched my face and felt a beard growing "I must say Sirius, she does look better as a man," James said, approving. "BLACK!" I turned to see Professor McGonagall approaching. The crowd dispersed and Sirius grinned "Minerva, looking lovely as usual," he said. She immediately reversed the spell "20 points from Gryffindor," she barked – yeah like deducting points would matter to him, "How many times have I told you not to hex a fellow student in the hallways?" she cried.

"Gee, I don't know – James?" Sirius asked. James shrugged  
"52 I think it is now Sirius," he replied.

"Enough of your shenanigans get out of the corridor NOW!" she cried. Sirius shot me a smirk before moving off. 52 times he'd hexed people and nobody thought of punishing him more? The Professor moved off and when she was gone I opened the door "Sorry about that," I said.

"Why don't you fight back – I've seen you practice charms before, you're great!" Yelena cried

"Just how long have you been watching me?" I asked, suspiciously

"Oh – it's not just you. It's Cleo too," she said.

"Cleo?" I asked, confused.

"Yeah, she's a bit of a loner too," she said, shrugging, "Maybe we should be friends with her too!" She stepped out of the cupboard and we walked to the next class together. Yelena was a half-blood and had a very full on personality – telling you every bit of her life story within hours of meeting her. That was probably why she had no friends, but I didn't mind. In fact I liked it. She really didn't seem to care what type of person I was, she was happy being with me and she had a ridiculously bright attitude. "That's Cleo over there," Yelena whispered. I turned to see a very pretty girl looking very bored. "Why's she lonely?" I asked confused

"Hm? There's a rumour going around that she steals people's boyfriends," Yelena said.

"Does anybody even have a boyfriend?" I snorted – did these people even know what men did? I'd heard it before. In Hogsmead there was an old brothel still standing. You could hear the men sometimes from the Hogs Head. After that I wanted to live a completely solitary life. "No, but she's still the centre of attention of the boys – apparently some 3rd year's already asked her out," Yelena said absentmindedly. I wish I could be like her, I thought to myself, though she was alone she looked so cool. She was a bit like Bellatrix – beautiful and independent. Why couldn't I be like them – someone who made their parents proud? "Um Ariana?" I turned to see Yelena had been talking about something "Sorry?" I asked. She blushed

"It's alright if you don't listen," she said – she'd obviously been ignored countless times

"No, I want to hear what you said," I said, "Repeat it back to me?"

"Oh it's just about the new charm we're learning today," she said, shaking her head in embarrassment. I frowned as I followed her into the classroom. Believe it or not Cleo sat right next to me. "I bet you'll both get it in one go," Yelena muttered. I smiled at her

"It'll give me more time to help you," I answered. She smiled and we began learning the Repairo charm. I watched Cleo who flicked her wand and the broken pieces of china went back into being a cup. I did the same and it worked. Yelena tried and the pieces moved feebly before stopping. "You don't have some weird prophecy skills do you?" I asked. She laughed

"Hey, you're pretty funny," she said surprised. I was surprised myself – I hadn't cracked a joke in three years. Maybe having friends _was_ a good thing – if I could call Yelena my friend. "Awfully talkative today," Cleo said. I turned around

"So you've been spying on me too?" I asked, surprised. She gave me a condescending look

"Hardly," she said, "But if I did I have every right to Ariana Dumbledore." Up close I could see she was half Asian, half European. "You're a half-blood too right?" I blurted out, intrigued. She didn't look like she was going to answer "Pure blood," she said, "My mother was part of the Japanese pure bloods and my father is part of the Rosier Family." I frowned – the Rosiers were…crazy to put it nicely, but she seemed sane enough "Cool – how are the Rosiers?" I knew Evan Rosier – he didn't visit my house often when I was a child, but my mother knew his mother – well _did_ know. "What makes you think we're close?" she asked, coldly.

"W-well, you do live in England," I said, worried I'd upset her. She sighed

"You're here in Hogwarts, but are you close to Albus Dumbledore?" she asked.  
"No," I admitted, she had a point.

"How boring, I thought it'd be fun knowing more about you," she said.

"I'm Yelena by the way," Yelena said from next to me – her face covered in soot from the dodgy spells she was casting "Here, let me help you," I said. I showed her how to properly pronounce the spell and flick her wrist and after eight unsuccessful attempts, she finally got it. "That was easy," she said. "What is this?" I looked up to see Professor Flitwick jump on a pile of books to look at our table "Three completely fixed tea cups? 10 points each to Slytherin! Excellent work girls," he cried. I smiled and the three of us were allowed to leave.

I half expected Cleo to leave us, but she stayed behind with us. "I've never sat at the Great Hall with friends," Yelena squealed with excitement.

"Neither," I admitted, but I didn't really see what was so exciting about it

"What do you want to do now?" Yelena asked

"Get started on our Defence Against the Dark Arts assignment," I suggested – it was about Sirens – surprisingly interesting topic, but completely useless in the age we were living in. You never heard of any cases of people getting dragged in by Sirens nowadays. "Aw, I was going to leave that till the weekend," Yelena cried.

"It's due on Friday," Cleo replied and Yelena shrugged.

"Come on, it'll be easier if the three of us help each other," I suggested and the two of them actually followed me. I had to admit, it felt good having friends.

It was actually done quite quickly and I settled down to look at a second year charms book. "Awfully advanced," Cleo said, reading the title.

"Oh yeah, she goes beyond the curriculum," Yelena said, filling her in on facts she'd seen while stalking me unashamedly "She's already at the end of first year's contents."  
"Same here," Cleo said, "Having a father who's in the Charm Invention Industry makes the basics seem boring."  
"Hey that makes me feel left out!" Yelena cried

"Then study to catch up," I said. Yelena sighed and put her head on the table. "Don't you feel – defenceless?" I asked her. She looked up

"I don't understand," she admitted

"We're Slytherin's – we aren't exactly treated nicely here and we're the most defenceless year in the school. We don't know enough spells to protect ourselves in the corridor which means we're at the bottom of the food chain. Aren't you afraid someone's going to hex you and you'll be stuck there forever?" I asked.  
"Yeah, but what am I supposed to do about it?" Yelena asked. I threw the charms book in front of her "Study – go above and beyond the curriculum. Learn Defence spells," I said.

"That's rich coming from a girl who doesn't fight back," Cleo said – so she'd seen.

"If I fight back, they'll think I'm just a typical Slytherin," I answered

"You are a typical Slytherin," she said, "Embrace it. Slytherin are powerful. If you're fighting against the likes of Black, you'll need more than a shield."  
"You know him?" I asked her,  
"Unfortunately," she said, "He's been learning hexes and curses since he was nine." Nine? That was after the accident. What the heck had happened to Sirius? "Yeah, I guess you're right," I muttered. TO be honest, the reason I didn't want to fight Sirius was because of Marcel. They'd been friends – I couldn't stop acknowledging that and some messed up part of my brain had linked the idea of hurting Sirius with hurting Marcel. "It's time for Lunch!" Yelena cried, pushing the thick Charms book away and getting up "Come on, before the good stuff goes!" she cried. I got up and so did Cleo and we followed her to the Great Hall and sat together and ate. I had to admit Yelena had a right to be excited. Sitting with the two made me feel so much happier – happier than I'd ever been since the accident. Still it was nothing like I had felt when I had been an innocent little child, but I knew I would never be that happy again.

* * *

Thanks to everyone who is reading my story! Hope you enjoy it :) Watch out for the twist next chapter - things are going to get interesting ;)

Soniaham: Yeah, hopefully I'll go into detail with all the years! Thanks for your review


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 5 – 3

Weeks past and Cleo, Yelena and I became closer. Cleo began to become a lot more open and was happy to chat with us and Yelena began to relax. The three of us began going to the library every day after classes to go ahead of the curriculum. With the two others with me we actually managed to study quicker and it was around Halloween time that we had finally finished first year's spells and charms along with learning a few other higher levelled defensive and offensive spells. We found a courtyard in the castle with a giant fountain in the middle which had pixies often flying around it. This was our hideaway. Spending time there was amazing. Even Sirius' attacks began to decrease. He'd been busy planning some funny 'prank' for Halloween which was tonight. "You know it'll probably involve us right?" Cleo said to me as I closed my eyes next to the fountain.

"I know more reversal spells now then my mum does," Yelena said, "I'm sure we'll be safe."

"Well we can't stop them – that'll just lead to us getting personally attacked," I said – I didn't want that now that I had a glimmer of happiness in my life. Hogwarts itself was beginning to look better. "On another note, do any of you have any idea about what to write for the History of Magic Assignment?" Cleo asked. It was about Merpeople and the relationships they had with humans of the past century "I've got a good book about it," Yelena said, "I got it from the library." She'd actually become quite studious – enjoying the peace of mind she got knowing she could protect herself in the hallways. "Why can't we just go ask one – they're in the Lake anyways," Cleo said

"Sure if you know how to speak their language," Yelena said, sarcastically. I turned to face Cleo  
"Do you know how to speak their language?" I asked, I wouldn't be surprised if she could

"Only the curse words," Cleo answered. I grinned and lay back down.

"I'm thinking we should skip the Halloween dinner," I said, "It's the most likely place they'll prank the Slytherin's and I don't want to be there when it happens."  
"I second that," Cleo agreed.

"Me too," Yelena said.

"I have snacks in my room if you want some," Cleo said. I grinned and we followed her into her dorm in Slytherin. She was shot nasty looks by the girls in her dorm and though Cleo remained indifferent on the outside she'd told me how much it hurt knowing the girls didn't like her. We went down to the common room because of the girls in the dorm and began munching on Chocolate Frogs. "Happy Halloween!" I said sarcastically as we ate while the others in the room rushed off to the dinner. One of the first years who'd glared at Cleo accidentally bumped into Bellatrix and all she did was look at the girl but the girl paled in fright and apologised over and over again. I watched them go "I wish I could be like Bella," I said, "Nobody would dare look down on us then."  
"Yeah," Cleo said, I could tell how much she wanted to be like her too.

"You could be her," I said turning to Cleo, "You have the face, the personality – everything!"

"Just not the following," she said. Bella was always flagged by her little sister Narcissa. Her other sister Andromeda had been sorted in Hufflepuff and I could say the relationship was tight, but even then Andromeda would never insult Bella – not because of sisterly love, but because nobody insulted Bella – ever. "She's got this mysterious air too – something I couldn't achieve," Yelena said.

"Yeah, she also knows more hexes then Professor Flitwick and Professor Hughes combined," Cleo said talking about the DADA teacher as well. "Well if I were like her I could probably sort out the Gryffindor problem and protect the other Slytherins," I said. Cleo rolled her eyes

"There you go again about protecting people – Ariana, it's like you're afraid we'll die or something," she said. I frowned and looked back, she'd hit the hammer on the nail there. "If I were Bella nobody would talk behind my back. I'd rule through fear!" she was joking, but I could see how badly she wanted the girls to stop talking behind her back. "I'd make millions of friends!" Yelena said, "You could call me Miss Popular!"

"How does someone become Bellatrix though?" Cleo asked.  
"What are you asking us for? You're the pure blood remember?" Yelena laughed. Bella just had this look that commanded respect. I remembered when she used to come to our house with her sisters. Even though she would be quite nice because she was among fellow pure bloods, you still respected her, it was just the way she held herself. "Maybe it's the fact she looks like she wouldn't think twice about killing you if you stood against her," Cleo suggested

"How do you even get that look?" I asked.  
"No that you'd want it," Yelena reminded us. Even when she said it the three of us knew we didn't care – we all wanted. After being bullied we just wanted it to end. Hours past and I settled down to watch Cleo and Yelena play Wizards Chess. I hadn't lifted a piece since that night where my life ended. Playing it reminded me of my cousins and my siblings. Suddenly I found my memories swirling and I thought of Callum looking down intently on his queen, calculating which move to take. Or Lucy who would make countless illegal moves, but because she was so cute I'd let her do it anyways. Sometimes the twins would verse me together, joking between each other as they did… "I have to go," I said getting up. Cleo and Yelena looked at me in surprise "Sorry, I mean I'm hungry, I'm going to go see if there's anything left to eat," I said, in reality I was getting overcome by my memories. "Okay, but be careful," Cleo said.

"I will," I said and walked out of the dorms.

Slytherin's dorms were actually quite close to the Great Hall and I got there in no time. What I wasn't prepared for was what was inside. It was completely covered in purple haze. I covered my mouth and went in "Lumos!" I cried and my wand ignited, but even with the light I could only see a couple of metres ahead. "Hello?" I cried. I saw a space in the fog and went over to it and looked around. The fog had disappeared but I wasn't in the Great Hall anymore "Teleporting dust," I muttered, why hadn't I thought of it before? "Could you tell me where I am sir?" I asked one of the Knights in the paintings. "Gosh child, do you know what time it is?" he cried  
"Please, I'm lost," I pleaded.  
"Second story corridor, now turn that ghastly light off," he said. I did as I was told and became instantly aware that there was someone behind me. Was this another aspect of the prank? I gripped onto my wand – I was going to fight this person, be it Sirius or not. I could feel the person coming closer and clos- "_Petrificus Totalus_!" I cried, turning around "_Lumos_!" I called out and looked to see Lily Evans go flat as a board and fall face first onto the ground. "Oh no! I'm so sorry!" I cried and turned her around to see her look at me wildly as her nose began to bleed. "I thought you were Sirius – or James," I apologised as I reversed the spell and she backed away in shock

"No, but I'm guess you wish it were us now," I snapped around in horror to see James and Sirius looking at me with disgust. I backed away "I-it was an accident!" I cried, "I didn't mean to hurt her!"  
"Lily, are you okay?" James asked, concerned. I turned to her  
"Tell them – tell them it was an accident!" I pleaded. She looked at me  
"I'm not so sure it was," she said. I looked at her with shock – how could she say that? James muttered a healing spell and her nose went back to its former shape "You should get to bed Lily," James said. All I could do was look at her frozen as she left, leaving me with two hungry looking wolves. "You're going to regret that," James said looking at me with blazing anger. Sirius suddenly stopped him "Nah mate, you won't be able to visit your parents if you get into trouble again – go to the common room. Leave her to me," he said. James glared at me before turning and leaving his friend to torture me. "Sirius, it was a mistake, I thought it was you and you were going to attack me," I explained. "Sure it was," Sirius said. He seemed far too pleased at the fact that he was going to hex me so that he wasn't listening to what I was saying. He cried a curse I hadn't heard of and my legs turned to jelly and I fell onto the floor. Fight back, Cleo's voice called in my head. I gripped onto my wand "_Petrificus_-" I cried

"_Expelliarmus_!" he called and my wand jumped out of my hand. He laughed "I've lived with Slytherin's before," he said, "I know all their sneaky tricks."  
"Leave me alone Sirius," I said, trying to sound strong, but I knew I was begging.  
"Well I can't now – James will be furious if I left you alone," he said, enjoying himself. He cried something out and I suddenly got the most painful stomach cramps possibly imaginable. It was like something was stabbing me in the stomach. I crawled into a ball, but he petrified me so I was rigid. Tears fell out of my eyes "Please," I managed to mumble, but my nose snapped and pain shot up my face. Sirius crouched down and I saw his eyes looking at me wildly. He looked half-mad, it seemed like he wasn't looking at me but through me "You're all the same," he hissed and his eyes went down to something glistening on my wrist "What a pretty bracelet," he said. My heart sank to my knees – no not that! "Please no!" I cried, not my sister's bracelet. It was the last thing I had of my family, but it was too late. He'd gotten it off my wrist "I'm sure Lily will love it – think of it as an apology present," Sirius said getting up "No!" I managed to cry over my petrification, but he just laughed as he turned and walked off, leaving me there.

I lay there sobbing till the spell wore off. When it did, I got to my wand and undid the stomach cramps and fixed my nose, though dried blood remained and I left. I went down the hall and down the stairs to the kitchens and made my way to the Room of Requirement and crawled through Ariana's portrait back to the Hogs Head. Even though it was midnight, Uncle Abe was still in the bar. I walked out of his house and out onto the streets of Hogsmead and continued to walk. I was leaving – leaving all of this behind. I couldn't take it anymore. Tears fell out of my face but it was raining so they were well hidden. I could follow the train line and get to London. From there I could completely leave England. "Ariana," I hand clasped onto my shoulder and I shrugged it off before turning to see Uncle there. "What are you doing here?" I gasped.  
"I got your letter, I was worried – what happened to you?" he asked. I couldn't stop myself I burst into tears and he picked me up and placed me on a crater at the back of a shop and I told him the story. "They took my bracelet," I cried.  
"I'm sure Cairo will have no trouble retrieving it – Griffons have the uncanny ability to reflect spells cast on them," Uncle said.  
"And as soon as I get it, what? I'll just get attacked again. I wish I was more like Bellatrix!" I cried.

"What is she like?" he asked patiently. I told him just what she was like and he sat there quietly listening. "So, I'm guess you want to be the strong, powerful leader of Slytherin, huh?" he said

"Yes, to protect other Slytherin's – and also to stop all this bullying," I admitted.

"I think I can help with that," my Uncle said "That is if you're willing to do _anything_ for it."  
"I am," I said miserably, letting a few more tears escape. I saw him reach into his pocket and take some sort of device out. It was circular, with blue light surrounding one face – it looked rather like a compass. He pulled me in and supported my back "Hold still, this might hurt," he said and before I could stop him, he pulled my shirt down to reveal my chest and slammed it onto the place where my heart was. I gasped in pain as it felt like knives had just been stabbed into my chest – why was he doing this to me - did he not love me either? Tears fell down my face at the betrayal I felt as I thought I was going to die. He'd pierced me right where my heart was. So it had been the one person I had trusted that had finished the job the aurors left behind. It seemed fitting for my miserable life. He let go and I fell onto the floor and began to shriek in pain and writhed on the floor. "Stop screaming Ariana, it won't do you any good," he said. He was right and I stopped as I began to go in and out of consciousness.

* * *

_Oh no! What's happened to Ariana? Is she dead...?  
_

_Thanks again for your review soniaham_

_And ObsessiveDreamer - you're so sweet! Thank you very much and I'm glad I've got you hooked!_


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

The pain slowly disappeared and I was left lying in my own sweat. I opened my eyes to see I was in a fancy room. I got up and touched my chest, expecting it to be bruised, but it wasn't. I pulled my collar away and looked down to find a small compass looking thing with different colours around the border on top of my heart. "Glad to see your awake," I jumped to see Uncle come in with a tray of food.  
"What did you do to me?" I asked, frightened.

"Come now Ariana, you didn't actually think I was going to kill you," he said, nonchalantly as he came up and sat on the side of the bed, near me. No, he was right - I didn't think it was in him to kill me. I slowly unbundled my legs and looked at the fried eggs on the plate "Hungry?" he asked, handing me the tray. I realised I was famished and took the fork and eagerly began eating. He stroked my head and I began to relax "Where are we?" I asked.

"Hogsmead," he answered. I looked around at the velvet covered four poster bed, the Persian rugs and elegant curtains "I didn't think we had a place like this here," I admitted.

"Nobody but you and I know," he said, "It's one of my homes." I got over my hunger and perched on the bed "What is this?" I asked, pointing at the thing on my chest.

"It's a bit of ancient magic," he said,  
"What? Like Merlin's time?" I asked.

"Much longer," he said, "Barely detectable and incredibly powerful."  
"What does it do?" I asked.

"It changes your appearance," he said.

"Is that all?" I said disappointed. Andromeda could change her appearance too as a Metmorphmagus. "Not quite. May I?" he asked. I nodded and he reached down and turned the compass so it pointed to one of the colours. Suddenly my body began to morph and muscle began to grow in certain places and I could actually feel my senses heighten. When it was done, I rushed to the mirror to see what had happened, which was hard as I felt unsteady on my feet. I had grown taller and thicker and my hair had gotten longer and my eyes had gone from brown to blue. "You're in the fighter mode," Uncle said, "Try and hit that metal pole," he said, pointing to a railing. I did as I was told and smacked it with all my strength, even though I knew it would hurt – but it didn't. When I pulled back I saw I'd dented the pole. "Certain techniques are gained with some of the modes," he said, "Dangerous techniques. Which comes to the reason why it hurt transforming." I looked over at him intently "Only those with pure hearts can use the Ketometrix. It kills anyone else who tries to use it. You have a pure heart Adeline, but after the past three years of struggling, it is shrouded in pain and hardship, which is what caused the transformation to hurt," he said.  
"How did you come across it?" I asked. He didn't answer "Is there any side effects?" He sighed and suddenly, he began taking off his cloak as well as the other material underneath it. I'd never seen his face before. There were bandages underneath yet another coat and finally I saw what he looked like. He was human – in fact he was handsome. Ocean blue eyes looked at me with blonder hair. "How old are you?" I asked looking at the man who looked to be sixteen or seventeen in surprise. "51," he said.

"Immortality is already proved to be impossible," I said, frowning

"I'm not immortal," he said, "I just don't get the usual consequences of aging apart from my heart. It ages normally. One day it'll simply wear out and I'll die – that is unless something else kills me."  
"Why do you cover up so much?" I asked.  
"I've worked in many different places Ariana," he said, "It's to keep my identity a secret and the mystery also helps, which moves onto what you asked of me. I can help you protect Slytherin on one condition."  
"Another condition? I just spent the night in pain," I said. He smiled at me

"Become my disciple," he said.

"Disciple in what? I don't exactly know what you do for a living," I admitted.

"Some of the aurors we hear about that die sometimes don't die from Death Eaters and vice versa for Death Eaters," he said.  
"What happens to them?" I asked  
"I do it," he said, "Like the aurors who killed your family, I kill corrupt aurors or overly murderous Death Eaters. Now thanks to the war coming up, the aurors are beginning to become slack on every day crimes, I help fix a little bit of that too – all for the right price."  
"You're a mercenary?" I asked.

"It's not always for the money Ariana," he said, "If you want to get back at your family's murderer you can do it with me." I felt the compass like device on my chest and frowned – I'd dreamed of the day of making those auror's pay, but now that I had the chance, it seemed like something was holding me back.

"I don't want to kill them – I don't want to be like them," I said, "I want them to go to Azkaban for what they did." Uncle smiled

"And that's how I know I've chosen the right disciple," he said.

"So you want me to fight – crime with you?" I asked, incredulously. He grinned

"It's a little darker then _that_ Ariana," he said. It was like another world had opened up to me – was it possible that I could stop other people losing their families over this war? Whether I would do it was not a question. I never could wish the pain I had to bear now on anybody in the world "I'll do it," I said. He grinned "Well you already have the Ketometrix, so you couldn't really say no," he laughed.

"Can I take it off?" I asked, wondering if it would be painful

"You can, but you'll die," he said, "Your heart's been pierced by it. You'll bleed if you take it out." I suddenly felt very vulnerable. He put his hand on me "Don't worry, I won't let anything hurt you," he promised. "I trust you – do I go back to Hogwarts?" I asked him, more than ready to leave the school if I needed to. He smiled "Hogwarts will be your training years Ariana, when you're done you'll join me," he said.

"Are there more of us?" I asked. He smiled

"Those who use ancient magic are few and far between," he said, "And we rely on each other. We help each other in any way we can. I know most of the ancient mages in England, but if you stumble across one you can ask them for help – we all help each other out, it's in our ways."

"Geez, I wish normal wizards and witches were like that," I sighed, thinking about the aurors and Death Eaters. "But enough about that, I need to get you to school before people start asking questions," my Uncle said and signalled for me to sit on the bed next to him. I did and he looked at me "The Ketometrix changes your appearance but not your personality," he said, "If you want to be a leader you must act like a leader. Changing you personality is also a vital tool as a mercenary."  
"I thought you said you weren't a mercenary," I said suspiciously

"It's easier to say that then what I actually do," he brushed off, "Think of the Queen of England, what is she like?"  
"Elegant, posed, strong…" I began listing.

"Traits you can adopt," he said, "People are odd things Ariana, the more mysterious you are the more they want to know about you. The more dismissive of them you are, the more they want to be close to you. Don't compliment anyone and be strict in what you want. If someone doesn't deliver, make sure they know how upset you are. If they do deliver, make it seem like it was expected."  
"You make it seem like they're dogs," I said, smiling

"Act properly and you'll see how similar they'll react," he said.

He began to teach me to keep a stone mask on my face, to never show emotions, to always maintain my position at the top of not only classes, but clubs. If I wasn't good, then I shouldn't join, but I had to try hard to be above average – even if it meant secretly sneaking out to practice at night. He also told me not to be afraid of defending myself or people who were Slytherins. I was never allowed to use my body to protect a person from a spell – if it broke the Kitometrix, I would be dead. On any normal person, these lessons would have gone over their head save for a few tips, but I was angry and upset – I'd been humiliated too many times and all I could think about was my bracelet and my new found friends. I wouldn't be Bellatrix – I would be _better_ than her. "You'll need to rest because of the transformation," Uncle said at the end, "But every weekend I want you to come to me. You'll need a lot more training to survive in my occupation." I hugged him tightly "I won't let you down," I promised.  
"Enjoy school life Ariana, I want you to be happy. You're the closest thing I have to a daughter," he said. I realised now why he covered up – he sounded weird for a seventeen year old looking thing. He finally taught me to think about what I wanted to look like and spin the Kitometrix 360 degrees to change and showed me the perfect way to look to become Head of Slytherin. I finally said goodbye and he led me out of his room and onto the streets. I was surprised to find we were in a rundown looking apartment block near the brothel. I looked in disgust at the brothel as I made my way back to Uncle Abe's home. Uncle flicked his fingers and the door to my house was unlocked "If you need anything send me a letter via Cairo," he said

"Will you be here?" I asked.  
"Who knows," he shrugged and I said goodbye one last time before turning and walking back to the portrait of the real Ariana Dumbledore and getting back to school.

"Where have you been?" Cleo asked when she saw me. Yelena jumped off the landing of the staircases and raced up to me "We didn't go to sleep – we've searched the entire castle!" Yelena cried. "I have a lot to tell you," I said. Uncle had told me that it would be alright to trust my closest friends – in fact I would need them for this plan to work. I took them to our courtyard and put a silencing spell around us before launching into the story – beginning from the murder of my family and my real identity all the way to Sirius' attack and the Kitometrix. "Well – let's see it," Cleo said, her eyes still wide at the story. I pulled the collar of my dress down and showed her the compass like thing. "I-I don't know if it'll work," Yelena said unsurely. If I didn't have their support it wouldn't work, but I didn't want to force it on them. "What do we have to lose?" Cleo suddenly said, "I'm sick of this place and they're already doing their worst on us." Yelena remained silent for a moment before nodding "I'm in," she said, "Maybe we can make more friends if we become – popular."

"If we do this, nobody can hurt us again," I said, eagerly, "But we'll need to work hard to get it to work." Cleo nodded

"I'm in too," she said. I smiled at my friends, glad we were in this together.

Hard work wasn't the beginning of it. Without the Kitometrix on Yelena and Cleo, they had to be groomed. Yelena was actually quite pretty if you straightened her golden coloured hair permanently and shaped her eyebrows so they had a slight arch which made her look like she was expecting something from you at all times – though it wasn't too dramatic for her to look angry all the time. Yelena's problem was her kind personality. It took a lot of work to get her to be 'mysterious'. We would casually use other people in the common room to try her out and it was her fifth try before she finally got how to initiate a conversation without telling her life story. Cleo was pretty easy, the problem was sometimes she would slip up and show how much she wanted to be friends with someone, or would sometimes show how hurt she was about rumours. I taught her how to show her emotions through her eyes. That way she could glare at girls who spoke bad about her in such a way that they would immediately stop. Finally, it led to the uniforms. Yelena was quite skilled in adjusting the uniforms. We shortened the ties and ironed the white shirts till they were perfect and changed the skirts to pencil skirts "This makes me look like a muggle air hostess," Yelena said, looking at her skirt. "That's mine, you'll be going with a dress," I said. She made a pretty little dress out of the skirt that she put over her white shirt and instead of tie she had a bow. By the end of it she looked incredibly beautiful. Her look made her seem innocent and I made her practice shy looks – she would be the kinder one in the group. Someone people could approach. Cleo darkened her eyelids and she looked like the exotic beauty she was. I told her to keep the bored look. She would be the opposite of Yelena, the cruel looking one. I wanted her to be that to frighten girls from ever saying anything behind her back. She wore fitted pants and the white Hogwarts shirt with a bow too. "You can wear this if you want," I said, looking at Witch Weekly "If you get too hot." It was a pencil dress with the logo of Hogwarts on it. Cleo changed into it and she looked beautiful in it. Yelena giggled "Cleo, you look like the Ice Queen," she said. Cleo grinned

"Perfect," she said. As for me, I wore a black pencil skirt with the white shirt and the Green Slytherin tie. There were black stockings on and shiny black shoes – these were once my second hand clothes but with a few adjustments they looked amazing. "No offence or anything, but what about this?" Cleo said, pointing to my face. I thought about the girl my Uncle had described and reached down and twisted my Kitometrix 360 degrees. I felt myself change and opened my eyes and looked in shock at who was looking back at me in the mirror. Sleek black waterfalls of hair like Cleo's ran down my back. Heavily lidded dark eyes, perfect eyebrows and straight teeth. My nose had changed as well into a perfect, slim little thing. My legs had gotten longer and I was no longer as skinny as I had been. I'd filled out to look nicer. "Amazing," Yelena gasped

"I kind of hate it," I blurted out, "I feel so"

"Suffocated? Like the person on the outside isn't you?" Cleo said

"Yeah, exactly," I said. She smiled

"We know the real you," she said, "That's all you need." I smiled and suddenly hugged her tightly and pulled Yelena in too "I'll protect you both – with my life," I promised. Cleo laughed

"We'll protect each other," she said, "Now – what are we going to do with your name?"  
"Keep Ariana Dumbledore. Even with my last name we've kind of been invisible. I'm sure nobody remembers me," I said. Cleo smirked and pulled her wand out

"Let's make sure of that. They won't be able to match the name to the face," she said. She was actually quite good at these complex memory charms as she chanted something and blue light erupted from her wand and spread around us like a wave around the school. "You really are the Ice Queen," Yelena squeaked. I burst into laughter and Cleo smiled "Get to bed guys, we'll be getting Ariana's bracelet tomorrow."  
"This kind of feel's silly," Yelena blurted out as she got ready to leave to her own dorm.  
"What? The clothes and the personality adjustment?" Cleo asked, grinning

"I know," I admitted to Yelena, "But we aren't doing this just to make friends. I'm going to crush the people who wronged us." I expected them to protest against me, but they smiled

"We will won't we?" Cleo said,

"I'm excited for tomorrow," Yelena agreed as they left me to crawl into bed and think about my bracelet. I really was going to get it back tomorrow.

* * *

...What will happen tomorrow?

Thanks to the reviews from Soniaham, Reader at Heart and Aims5! I'm really glad you guys are interested!

What does everyone think about the Kitometrix and about Ariana wanting to "crush" the people who wronged her and her friends?


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 7-3

Yelena had been nervous at first, but after seeing Lily Evans show off my sister's bracelet on her hand, even _she_ looked determined as we walked to Potions class. "These shoes are impossible," Cleo whispered in my ear, making it seem like some big secret and I actually saw a few girls lean in to try and snatch what she'd said. I tinkled out a laugh and everyone who heard it turned to look at me. It was like the Ketometrix was on my face not my heart, everyone was staring at us. I would have gotten intimidated if it had not been for the bracelet shaking about near me. I looked at my reflection and saw the high ponytail I had make my thick hair flow into and onto my shoulders. I looked very pretty. Lily came close to me with her friends, Mary MacDonald and Alice Prewitt. "What a lovely bracelet," I said in a tone so similar to my mother's: posed and elegant. Lily turned around to me and smiled "O-oh thank you," she said.

"Where did you get it from?" I asked, trying to sound indifferent

"I got it for her," James and Sirius said. I felt myself tense, but made sure not to show it

"Funny, it looks exactly like the one little Ariana used to wear," I said, frowning in concern. Internally I really hoped Cleo's spell had worked and they wouldn't be able to match the two Ariana's. Lily blushed "Oh – well it is," she said.

"You mean the very one that was _stolen_ from her? What did you hear again Cleo?" I asked, inching my head to Cleo. All eyes were on her as my crystal voice carried everyone's attention. "Madam Pomfrey found her in the second story corridor. Apparently somebody had _beaten_ her. She was barely conscious and all she could mumble about was a bracelet," she said coldly and glared at Lily. Lily had paled and I frowned, looking at her in sympathy – sympathy I didn't actually have "Funny Lily, everyone in first year is always talking about how kind you are," I said, "It doesn't seem like you to beat a girl up."

"I-I-I didn't!" she cried and turned to James, who turned to Sirius

"She attacked Lily first," Sirius said.  
"Ariana?" Yelena said softly, she looked like she was on the verge of tears "She doesn't know enough spells."

"Funny," I said casually, "Sirius, I didn't take you for the type to attack girls – and Lily. I didn't think you would stand for that but it seems both of you are proving me wrong." She turned bright red as people simply stayed silent around us. Of course they wouldn't butt in. After all, they were far too interested in the show. "Stealing a girl's bracelet," Cleo scoffed. I held out my hand

"Give it back," I said – not with a commanding tone but more of a tone that made it seem like it was the only logical thing to do. She quickly unfastened the bracelet and handed it to me "See Cleo, I knew she was better than that," I said, smiling warmly at her. Cleo shrugged, looking indifferent as Professor Slughorn opened the door to class.

I sat next to Sirius. "Where's Ariana?" he asked. He really thought there were two completely different people called Ariana Dumbledore. I wanted to turn to Cleo and give her a huge thumbs up but thought otherwise. I wanted to give him a smart remark like 'Why? So you can attack her?' but I needed to be mysterious so I shrugged and said nothing. A paper bird fluttered onto my desk and amazingly, Sirius didn't try to pick it up though he did lean in to read it. I angled myself so he couldn't

_We were way too wordy with Lily. Cleo_

She was right. We needed to work on trying to reprimand people with using smaller sentences – like Bellatrix. She'd never have to explain herself to anyone. Another paper plane landed and I opened it

_Green eyes would have looked stunning on you! But way to go guys! I can't believe this. There are two girls who are looking at me! Not the other way around. YIPEE!_

I tried not to laugh as I read Yelena's letter. I used a quick spell to wipe the writing away.

_Cleo, you're right. We need to work on that_

_Yelena, remember to look mysterious and this body is already needing a lot of getting used too._

I sent the birds away and people looked at them with curiosity as I straightened my back and looked over at the end of Professor Slughorn's instructions for a fire potion. I couldn't wait to see what some of the less talented potions students would end up doing to themselves in this class. "Would you like me to get the ingredients?" Sirius asked. I tried not to gape at him – he was a completely different person. It disgusted me a little bit how different boys acted depending on what your face looked like. "Sure," I said shortly while I was pretending to read my potions manual. He got up and walked off to the cabinet. "Oh – who might you be?" Professor Slughorn looking up at me  
"Ariana Dumbledore – I just moved here," I said, daintily giving my hand for him to shake. He shook it "Dumbledore – that's an interesting name. I could have sworn we had another Dumbledore in this class," he scanned around, but shrugged "Maybe my memories a bit muddled up." Did he really not remember me? At least that was a plus about Sirius – he remembered the people he hexed. "I heard you give special attention to people who excel in your class," I said. He frowned

"Was it the other Professors? They need to know I treat people equally," he growled. I smiled

"I don't see any problem with giving people who want to do well a little extra push," I said, "As in a matter of fact, I hope I impress you today." He looked at me surprised then laughed

"I do too Miss Dumbledore," he said and walked off. I hated him – I hated all the teachers. They just stood by and let everyone bully us. They hated Slytherin's as much as the students did, but I needed the Slug Club. It had a tendency of allowing not only the smartest, but the most influential students in and I wanted to influence them – which was why I'd practiced exactly how to make the fire potion yesterday with Yelena and Cleo. Sirius came with the ingredients "So, do you know how to make one these?" he asked, friendly enough considering I was still a Slytherin in his eyes. I ignored him and began crushing fire seed.

I'd give Sirius the easy jobs, like cutting up the beetroot (yes, surprise surprise plain old beetroot is required for the spell) and he sat there, simply watching the cauldron as I began putting the finishing touches on the potion while other people were still in the chopping stage. I put the beetroot in and it immediately looked like molten lava. "Already?" Professor Slughorn cried. He waddled up and looked at the potion and stirred it with his personal stirrer. "Excellent! My Miss Dumbledore, you have exceeded my expectations quite dramatically. 20 points to Slytherin and Gryffindor!"

"Thank you sir," I said, giving him a small smile

"Actually dear, I'm having a little morning tea event over by the greenhouses and I know some people who would like to meet you," he said, "It's on tomorrow."  
"You can count me in," I said. I took my wand out to clear my cauldron but he stopped me

"Actually, I'd like to keep some of this," he said. What he wanted with fire potion was none of my business but I was more than happy to give it to him. An explosion erupted and we turned to see some Gryffindor girl had burnt her eyebrows off. I tried not to smirk, but Cleo was more than happy to do it for me. Instead, I got my things and packed them up "Gee Sirius, didn't think I'd ever hear of the day you'd gain points for us," James said over to his best friend. Sirius laughed

"I'm in shock myself," he said, though he was looking at me. I ignored him as I listened to Professor Slughorn praise Cleo who had also finished her potion and then Yelena. I took extra time to pack my bag to get the two of them to leave the classroom with me at the same time. When I put my bag on my back Sirius was standing at his seat looking at me "Did you say where you transferred from?" Sirius asked, curiously. "I didn't," I said as I turned to leave with Cleo and Yelena coming up behind me.

We raced into an empty classroom and squealed as soon as the door closed. I took my bracelet out and held it close to me "Put it on," Yelena said

"No way," I said, "I learnt my lesson. I'm putting this somewhere safe."  
"Did you see the way the girls were looking at us?" Cleo asked, grinning

"I dropped my quill and somebody picked it up for me," Yelena squealed.

"Sirius was so nice to me," I said, "Even after I'd said all I did to Lily."  
"Do you think you can be friends?" Yelena asked. I frowned

"I don't think you understand Yelena. I want to destroy him," I said, darkly.

"Social suicide?" Cleo asked.

"No, I want to make sure he never hurts a Slytherin again," I said.  
"Any plans on how to do that?" Yelena asked, not at all concerned by the idea of hurting the Gryffindor boy "Not a clue," I admitted.

"Well keep him close till then," Cleo said, "And we're being too open. We need to work on our – _controlling_ part of the personality."  
"I was thinking the exact same thing," I agreed, "Perfect opportunity coming up tomorrow."  
"Slug club party?" Cleo asked.

"Are you two invited?" I asked. They both nodded

"I didn't think I'd see the day when I was actually part of the Slug Club," Yelena cried.  
"Hey, your innocent act is great, but ease up on the innocence. It makes you seem – weak," I said trying to pinpoint it, "If girls get jealous of you, you'll be targeted. You need to look sweet, but still frighten them enough to back off," I said.

"I'll try," Yelena said, understanding what I meant.  
"Remember, apart from us, we say sentences to people _only_," Cleo reminded us

"Right," I agreed, "You guys look great."  
"Same to you," Yelena said

"Great work on the spell Cleo," I said to her.  
"It wouldn't have worked unless you were as invisible as you are – fortunately it seems only Black really remembers you," Cleo said.

"Not enough to break the spell," I said, "Come on take your books out, let's revise Transfiguration."

Going to Transfiguration was amazing. Everyone turned to look at us and cleared a path. "- yeah you know Jenny Grey? She stole her boyfriend," I heard some Ravenclaw third year say. Cleo turned and gave her the most frightening glare I'd ever seen. The girl went pale and I sighed audibly to them to show how pathetic they were as we walked by and lined up for Transfiguration. "Medusa eat your heart out," I muttered to Cleo who smirked, but I could see how cheerful she was. "Hey nice uniform," I turned to see some Hufflepuff girl approve of us. I gave her a small smile before turning to Cleo and pretended to talk about something important. Of all the houses, I had to say I liked Hufflepuff the most. Sure they still didn't like Slytherin, but it wasn't out of hate but fear. Actually, if you were nice enough, Hufflepuff's were more than eager to befriend you – well as I was now. No Hufflepuff had tried to befriend me with what I was three days ago. Professor McGonagall was harder to fool than Professor Slughorn. She didn't give you any special consideration if you happened to be a bright student. We were let in and the three of us took a back seat in the class. "My name is on the register. After all I am still Ariana Dumbledore," I muttered

"If she recognises you, what do we do?" Yelena asked.  
"We hex her," Cleo whispered.

"What if it doesn't work?" Yelena said worried

"Just because she's a professor doesn't mean she's hex proof," I said, "Just relax." Funnily enough she was just as blind to the fact that I was a completely different person. It seemed she too hadn't noticed Ariana Dumbledore properly before. We were turning mice into shoes today. A few girls squealed at the mice, but I took mine and immediately with a flick of my wand, a shoe appeared. We hadn't had mice in the dorm when we'd practiced the spell. Instead, we'd used Yelena's toad because Cairo was spell proof and Cleo's owl had been delivering a letter to her parents. Believe it or not, but Yelena's toad was a whole lot more hyperactive than the mice were. Aiming the spell was the hardest thing. I settled with reading the second year transfiguration book I had in my bag, while Cleo sat, staring at the wall, bored, but not bored enough to want to read any more spells and Yelena reading over my shoulder – too afraid she'd be caught looking at the boys and girls in the class eagerly as she did when she wanted to make friends. "What should we do when we get home?" Yelena asked. "Sort out what we're wearing and what we're saying at the Slug Club tea," I muttered, quietly enough for her to hear. "I'm scared, what happens if they don't like us?" she asked

"So?" I asked, "We'll figure something else out."  
"How can they not like us?" Cleo asked, "Ariana looks like a bloody model." Compliment, I know, but it still unsettled me. I actually yearned for my crooked nose. All of this attention was so _fake_. I hated the people around me – the people who wouldn't like the real me.

We went down to lunch and I dared to sit in the centre of the table. Yelena and Cleo sat on either side of me and ate elegantly – painstakingly so. It paid off because people began to flock to us. There was a pretty girl next to us and it just showed me it wasn't our looks that were getting us attention, it was our attitude. Now was the time to use Lily. I would have felt bad if it hadn't have been for the hesitation she'd had when Sirius had been around – looking back on it, it wasn't her fault really, maybe she really was shocked, but at the moment all I could picture was her wearing my sister's bracelet. "Did you see Lily's face?" I asked, smirking at Cleo. She chewed on her piece of lettuce before replying "Serves the _mudblood_ right," Cleo answered, "She acts innocent, but she hexed the girl silly."

"Something must have set her off," Yelena said

"Apparently, someone caught her looking quite jealous when Ariana scored 100% on a potions test," I said, making it sound like I had connections around the school for gossip. It was working though and I saw fellow first years lean in to listen. "To think she actually went and wore the bracelet straight after the attack is disgusting," Cleo said.

"And embarrassing. That bracelet's made out of goblin wrought silver and dwarf diamonds, it's not something a muggle born could afford," Yelena agreed.

"What is this?" I looked up to see Lucius Malfoy pick a piece of bread right in front of us. Yelena looked in awe at the fact Lucius was speaking to us – he was an influential Slytherin a year older than us. I patted Yelena's hip and she immediately put her stone mask back on "Just some muggle-born trying to be a pure blood," I said, which was a complete lie, but it looked that way. He sat down in front of us. "Typical," he snorted. He had a long blonde hair in a ponytail and piercing blue eyes – he was actually quite handsome, but he was already engaged to Narcissa Black – he'd been engaged since I'd been born practically. "Pity is they're attacking pure bloods in the school," I said, casually. He looked up "Filthy mudbloods?" he asked, "It's embarrassing if we're losing."  
"They fight like rats, four or five against one. Surely you can't blame a poor defenceless Slytherin if they lose against those odds," I said.  
"I guess," he said

"Well I'm personally I very proud Slytherin," I said, as I put my napkin down and got ready to leave "If anyone was in trouble ever by one of those muggle loving Gryffindor's I would be more than happy to help them teach them a lesson." I said as I stood, this was the part where I helped others  
"What did you say your name was?" he asked, looking at my pretty face

"I didn't," I said, smiling mysteriously at him before walking off, with Cleo and Yelena following me.

Unfortunately, thanks to some hallway changing prank that Black and Potter had conducted, all of Gryffindor had missed out on their DADA class in second period so the teacher's had swapped classes and I was now sitting with Yelena and Cleo in a room half filled with Gryffindor's. "This is possibly the worst idea Hogwarts has ever come up with," I mumbled to my friends. I wouldn't be surprised if there was blood shed in this room as I saw Black look hungrily at the Slytherin's. I saw Mary MacDonald – the female version of Sirius in personality only (not looks), throw a crumple piece of parchment at a Slytherin girl. _Oh no, not on my watch_, I thought to myself "Look at Mary's skirt," I said loud enough for the people of Slytherin to hear and a few Gryffindor's, like magic they all looked. Cleo understood what I meant "My grandmother wears shorter skirts," Cleo answered and we burst into giggles. Most of the Slytherin's, including the girl who had just been hit with the paper ball laughed along with us "Alright everyone, calm down," Professor Hughes said, good naturedly. Annoying man he was, brought it upon himself to try and convert all of Slytherin into auror lovers. When he'd given me and Severus at the time the 'talk' I'd actually begun considering becoming a Death Eater just to annoy him. Whispers went around the class and I saw Mary turn to me and glare – obviously she'd heard what I'd said. I ignored her but nudged Yelena – we'd practiced what we'd say if someone was hostile "Mary MacDonald's glaring at you," Yelena said aloud. "What's she going to do?" Cleo said, "Burn you like she did her eyebrows in potions this morning?" another round of giggles went around the classroom. We were learning a shield spell today. Defensive – you're probably thinking a good spell to try and teach a class full of hostile people, well you're wrong. Learning a shield spell meant that people were given the right to throw any hex at you and you were supposed to feebly try and block it. This was the worst possible spell to try and teach, not only that, it was a _weak_ shield spell. There were a few powerful hexes I knew some of the people in this class knew that could quiet easily get through the shield. "Mary's going to try and verse me," I said quietly to my friends, "Let her, it's time to teach her a lesson." Cleo smirked and Yelena understood and when we were asked to get partners, sure enough Mary came right to me. "Ariana was it?" she asked, not trying to hide her hate

"Mary was it?" I asked in reply, she knew exactly what my name was, "I've already got a partner if you don't mind." I sounded bored

"Oh no, I insist – come partner with me," she said, hotly.

"Well, if you _insist_," I said, yawning. I followed her slowly to the centre of the room – she wanted to make a show of this. "Should we make it like a duel?" I asked, looking around the room, "We throw spell at each other and we have to block them?" I knew a very good spell to use on her.

"Sure," she said and when I turned I heard her heels squeak "_Stupefy_!"

"_Reflus_!" I cried, blue light erupted out of my wand and the spell rebounded on my shield and flew straight at her and hit her square in the chest. I couldn't believe she'd drawn without the teacher's beginning signal and when my back was turned. That was not the spell we were supposed to have learnt today, but the meagre shield we were learning would not have blocked the Stupefy curse – in fact, I didn't know what was going through her head trying to use a spell like that on me. It wasn't an Unforgivable Curse, but it was still high up on the cruel list. It was like getting tasered instead of shot. There was a crowd around us and luckily, Mary's spell wasn't a very strong one because I saw her wobble to her feet. "What happened here?" Professor Hughes asked. This was a problem – I was a Slytherin, he'd suspect me. "S-she tried to stupefy me!" I cried, sounding shocked and innocent.

"It's true sir!" Yelena cried, "She dragged Ariana to the centre of the stage and attacked her – she could barely reflect the spell." I pretended that my arm hurt from the spell.

"Where on earth did you learn that spell?" he asked Mary, he had no choice but to punish her now that everyone had seen, but it seemed Mary was one of his favourite students and he was being reluctant to believe it, but Mary's own guilty look proved what she'd done. Her face looked green and she sunk to her knees "Someone get her to the infirmary," he cried. Alice Prewitt and Lily Evans did as they were told, both equally shocked at their friend. I stood in front of the Gryffindor's with the Slytherin's in front of me looking at my face. Mary turned to see me and I smirked at her and gave her a little wave as she was helped out of the door. She looked at me in horror, but I immediately put up my hurt façade. "Ariana, are you alright?" Yelena asked, coming up to me

"It hurts a little," I lied, "I can't believe there are actually girls like that." Cleo and Yelena nursed me for the rest of the class.

By dinner the three of us were famous. It seemed the Mary MacDonald fight had spread around the entire school not just the first years. There was talk going I'd provoked her or that she'd been jealous of me and Slytherin's had spread I'd lied about being hurt, but still it was only a rumour and rumours weren't enough for the teacher's to act on but they gave Mary MacDonald a meagre detention. We were literally crowded around not only by Slytherin's but other houses too when I sat down to eat "What happened with Mary?" a Ravenclaw girl asked.

"I heard she's gotten detention," Yelena said.  
"Lucky her, now she can spend it making out with Black," I said, caually, and everyone heard "What?" Yelena asked.

"She likes him," Cleo said. Oh gosh, that was a lie. A HUGE lie, but the thing was 'couple' news spread like wildfire and I knew tomorrow Mary would barely be able to show her face in school let alone ever think of harming a Slytherin again. One thing I was proud of was the fact the three of us could actually make conversation flow like this without planning it. "No way, maybe that's why they fought. Sirius probably likes Ariana," I heard someone say. I had to stop myself from scoffing at the news. "Who's the lucky girl who fought the half-blood?" everyone quietened as Bellatrix came to sit near us. She barely ever came close to the first year's table. One thing my Uncle stressed about was to know my place and I did. Bellatrix was in her seventh year, she was the Queen of Slytherin and I wasn't going to push her off her place, but I _was_ going to be her replacement when she left. I had a year to make sure my rule was absolute. "That would be me," I said, letting out a full blown grin instead of the little ones I did to everyone else. "Pity you didn't hex her," she said. See, that was perfect. She didn't compliment _anyone_. There were always ways to improve and she would point them out. "A lesson to be learned for next time," I agreed, "Perhaps you can teach me a few hexes. In fact I'm sure a lot of the first years would like to learn a few of the nasty ones I hear you can pull out in the corridors." People actually went out of their way to agree to what I said, turning to her and nodding eagerly. She smirked "Are you volunteering to be my dummy?" she asked. Of course she wouldn't be kind to me, but I wasn't going to shy away "Actually, maybe your cousin _Sirius_ might be a better target," I said, coolly. I couldn't lose my nerve, even knowing Bella knew some of the most dark curses I'd heard and even not heard of. Her smirk vanished "Maybe your Uncle Albus might be a better target," she said. I smiled

"Actually, I think he is the perfect target," I said, "Unfortunately the muggle lover's got a bit of a bite to him."

"That's an understatement," Cleo scoffed and the tension began to dissolve. Bella didn't know who I was and it was common knowledge she only tended to like people her were either part of her family or had been friends with her family since she was born, like the real me. She'd known me since I was a baby. "Well I hear you're going to become a Death Eater," I said, turning to Bella, "By the sounds of it, you're already part of the higher ranks. Maybe you _will_ be the one who gets the pleasure of killing him."Albus Dumbledore could be right behind me and listening to me, but I couldn't think about that. She suddenly smirked "Seems like I'll be doing you a favour," she said

"He doesn't mean much to me actually, alive or dead doesn't matter," I said.  
"Neither does my cousin," she said.

"I'll keep that in mind next time I share a Defence Against the Darks Arts lesson with him," I said, smiling, "Maybe I'll be doing you a favour then."  
"You would be," she said before settling down to eat.

Night was even more hectic than the day. I came into my dorm to find all the girls in there glancing at not only me, but my belongings. I'd kept them neatly in lock drawers but if they looked at them they would scoff at my meagre belongings, especially as most of these people came from rich backgrounds. I moved up the female dorms to find another room with Cleo in it. "Do you know if there are any empty rooms?" I asked her.

"One way to find out," she said and joined me up to find a first year's room with only two people in it thought it had five beds. "Perfect," I muttered to Cleo. I walked in to see the girls jump up when they saw me. "Aren't you two lonely in here?" I purred.  
"Um – why?" one of the girls asked

"I have – a lot of belongings and they don't fit in my dorm. I'll need the extra space like this. You wouldn't mind if we swapped beds would you?" I made it sound more like a statement then a question. "You'll have my bed," Cleo said, to the other girl

"Sure, sharing with more people would be nice," the girls said and the old me would have helped them pack, but I wasn't the old me anymore. With a quick flick of my wand my belongings all flew up the stairs and landed safely at a bed near the window. I found Yelena and got her things up there too and Cleo followed. As soon as the girls left I shut the door on the three of us and sighed "That was-" I began

"Daunting," Yelena finished, "I've never had so many people around me." She fell onto her bed

"I'm surprised it worked so quickly," Cleo said, "All you really needed was a rumour here and a rumour there – why didn't we do this earlier."  
"Did you see the looks on the faces of the girls on the way to DADA?" I asked Cleo. She grinned and it was bittersweet knowing that she never had to go through those stupid rumours anymore.  
"We still have to work hard," I reminded them, "I don't want this to be fleeting. I want us to be on top at all times for the next seven years."

"You know what?" Yelena asked, "I really like the sound of that."

* * *

_Hm, are we going to have a Blair Waldorf-ie character here? And poor Lily Evans and Mary MacDonald! It seems like Ariana's gone from being bullied to bullying others! The Gryffindor's better watch out!_


	7. Chapter 7

I had thought Monday was great, but Tuesday was better. I got up to find people whispering about me, but it wasn't bad like before. This all had to do with what I was wearing and what had happened yesterday. I went down to the Great Hall with Cleo and Yelena and people cleared the way to let us sit at the centre. I liked my seat – I made a mental note to make sure to make it my 'permanent' spot on the bench. I neatly ate my breakfast and I zoned in on the whispers "There's Mary MacDonald," I heard some second year say

"Look, Ariana had been right, she's sitting near Sirius Black," her friend said. Mary and Sirius were actually friends it seemed and even I had to admit, Sirius was a loyal friend, but that only fuelled the rumour of romance. He wouldn't leave Mary to weather through this alone and that only made it seem like they were a couple. "Pass me the salt," I ordered a girl in front of us. She immediately got up and handed it to me and I didn't say anything as I salted the salad side dish on my plate "Breakfast is horrible," Yelena muttered, "As always." It was five star meal compared to some of the meals I had tasted before I'd learnt to cook for myself, but I had to criticize everything. I realised everyone around us was quiet and looked up to see them all staring at me. This is make or break, I thought to myself, don't lose your cool. "Today is the luncheon with Professor Slughorn," Yelena said, "We don't have to go in our uniforms do we?"  
"Urgh, I hope not," Cleo said, "As much as I love green, I hate it in stripe form." I tinkled out a laugh  
"It's a formal affair, who goes in their uniform?" I made sure everyone around us heard – why? Because I was certain Lily Evans and James Potter would be going in their uniforms and that would lead to more talk. Maybe I could actually get James Potter to lose some of his new found popularity.

When lunch came Yelena yet again proved her skills in designing clothes. I put white stockings on underneath my red woollen dress and put a pretty coloured scarf that I had coloured myself. Yelena looked sweet in a white lace dress and Cleo looked as pretty as she always did with a black coat that went just above her knees and white stockings. "I hope the other Slytherin's dressed to impress, cause I feel stupid," Cleo admitted, ruining the image of the Ice Queen that she looked like. I couldn't help but burst into laughter which caused the two of them to laugh as well. Yelena finally sighed "And to think, here I was thinking that going to magic school was about learning magic," she muttered. I laughed

"I wish it was," I admitted, "I'm beginning to feel a little petty." It was true, all I really wanted to do was learn magic and take care of myself, but then Sirius and James ruined that for me. We walked across the cold fields outside the castle to get to the greenhouses "This is kind of a summer thing isn't it?" Yelena said, "Why's he making us lunch outside at this temperature?"

"Ever heard of an ice luncheon?" Cleo asked

"No," me and Yelena said together.

"I've had one before," she said, shrugging, "Let's just say the thermal stockings were a wise choice."

It was like we'd entered a winter wonderland "Did he say casual luncheon?" I muttered to my friends as I thanked myself for dressing so formally. "Ariana!" I turned to see Professor Slughorn beaming at me "You all look so beautiful," he said, appraising us.

"As do you sir – may I say what amazing decorations you've made?" I said, politely looking around at the moving ice sculptures surrounded by snowflakes everywhere. My favourite was of a ballerina dancing on a small stage. "Oh no child, I didn't make these. Have you heard of Ugene Barns?" he asked. "I'm afraid I'm not very cultured," I admitted

"Famous sculptor? He used to be one of my students," he said, "I asked in for a little favour and he made them for me. Wonderful aren't they?" I smiled warmly  
"Amazing, Ugene Barns you said? I believe I'll have to read up on him, you've converted me into becoming his fan," I said. He laughed in a jolly manner and somebody called him over. He seemed sorry to go, but did anyways. "Do we spend the day hacking at the sculptures?" Yelena whispered to Cleo. "No, they're simply for appreciation," she said.

"Appreciation isn't going to stop my stomach from grumbling," she muttered, "I'm hungry." I looked at the rest of the crowd and saw that all the Slytherin's present had dressed semi-formal for the lunch along with a few Ravenclaw's and Hufflepuff's. I walked over to the crowd and grabbed a sandwich from one of the serving house elves and began nibbling on it. I looked over to see Lucius Malfoy chatting to Bellatrix Black. I knew Slughorn would invite Bella, but I didn't think she'd actually come. Something I also couldn't believe was she'd decided to come in a pretty black dress instead of her school uniform "Amazing what a little rumour can do," I muttered to my friends as they appraised the older Slytherin's who had all dressed nicely. I saw the Head Girl, a Ravenclaw by the name of Edna Goodheart talking to the Hufflepuff Quidditch Captain. In fact, looking around me there were people who ruled Hogwarts. What I'd achieved yesterday now seemed miniscule among these people, but I still went over to Winter Fellows, the Slytherin Quidditch Captain and listened to his heated conversation with Roy Barns, the Gryffindor Quidditch Captain. "You're crazy if you think Germany's going to beat Russia," Winter cried. I had been expecting them to be fighting over Hogwarts Quidditch, not the silly World Cup season, luckily for me the radio at the Hogs Head was always put on the World Cup and I actually knew a fair deal about it. "Have you seen Adolf Goer? The new recruit is called 'The German Eagle', he's the best Seeker I've ever laid my eyes on," Roy said. Winter growled, "What about Vladimir Rosembyne?" I voiced and the two of them turned to me "Sure Adolf is a good Seeker, but it doesn't mean anything if he's thrown off his broom before he can do anything. Rosembyne's got deadly aim and ever since he was recruited last year, he's been doing nothing but throw Seekers off the field and it'll be easy with Adolf, he's quite unsteady on his broom," I said.

"Yeah, see?" Winter said, childishly and Roy frowned

"But Germany's Quaffler's are still better than the Russian ones," Roy answered

"Only slightly and it's made up for by the Russian Keeper," I said, "All in all, I wouldn't really say any of the teams had an advantage. It's actually quite an equal game." Barns turned on me

"And how would you know so much about the World Cup?" he asked. I shrugged and didn't answer his question "I'm personally more interested in Berlin versus France," I said and it immediately got the two fighting again. I occasionally put my two cents in and soon we had a crowd of avid Quidditch fans – the loudest being James Potter who was siding with the Gryffindor Captain. "Everyone knows Poland can't play Quidditch to save their lives," Potter said passionately, though he was being a little over dramatic. Barns ruffled Potter's hair "See! Finally someone's talking sense!" he cried

"What about Gordon Harrison? He plays for Poland now and he's in the English Premier League. His team won last year, that proves he can play," I said. Roy looked at me silently, then turned to Potter, as if looking for back up "He's nothing compared to Ferend, Kyles and Polas," James said, counting them on his fingers and showing them to me "Kyles, really? Stats show last season only two in every five balls shot by him score," I said, calmly.

"He used to be good," James said

"Not anymore," I answered

"Fine, scratch Kyles, but you still have Ferend and Polas," he said, sticking his two fingers so close to my face, I thought they'd go up my nose. "I have class Potter, I would love to continue this conversation after the season though when my teams win," I said, coolly. Roy laughed  
"Fine then, it's a deal. I'll see you next luncheon – right Slughorn?" he called.  
"That's Professor to you and if you'd like I can invited Gordon Harrison to the Christmas Dinner. He's one of my ex-students," Professor Slughorn said.  
"Please do," I said, turning to Barns, "Maybe we can organise a quick Quidditch match and see how bad he is compared to you."

"You're just angry 'cause I'm right about Poland losing," Potter said. I sighed

"James, have you even heard what happened in Spain's last game? Ferend was bludgered off his broom and he's got a hip injury. He won't be playing and Polas got a stomach infection. Sure, maybe they had a good chance of winning if their two star players weren't sick but they are. Poland's going to mow them down now." James turned to Roy

"Is that true?" he asked him. Roy nodded sadly and I frowned at him

"Next time get up to date with your facts," I said and Winter grinned

"What was your name again?" he asked me

"Ariana," I said

"Well Ariana, will I get the pleasure of seeing you try out this year for the team?" he asked.

"Not this year. Slytherin only has the best and I need to brush up on my skills," I said – LIE I couldn't play Quidditch to save my life. I hadn't been interested when I had a family and when I finally did learn about it, I was too poor to afford a broom.  
"Well if they're so good, why'd they lose last year to Ravenclaw?" Roy cried

"Cause I wasn't captain," Winter said, smirking, "Better hope I don't see you on the field Barns." He swung an imaginary bat in the air. Winter was the bludger for Slytherin and a terrifying one at that. He wasn't afraid to use the actual bat to get people off their brooms and half of us still didn't know whether that was actually legal or not - there was nothing in the rule books because nobody had ever been violent enough to actually _bat_ people off their brooms. "Well, it was lovely speaking to you all. Hopefully next time it won't be so – passionate," I said, trying to find the right word. Roy and Winter grinned "That's a nice way of putting it," Roy said.  
"I'll see you next luncheon," I said and turned and walked off with Cleo and Yelena re-joining me.

"Talk about centre of attention," Yelena said, "I hate Quidditch and _I_ was listening into the conversation." I sighed

"That was lucky," I said, "If that conversation was about something else I would have been standing in the corner."  
"Like what? If it was about studies, we're already on second year material so you would still be able to hold a conversation, if it were about clothes, Yelena could help you out and if it were about the war, we've all heard enough news to figure out what's going on," Cleo said, "Trust me Ariana, you weren't going to be standing in the corner no matter what was being said."  
"This networking stuff is hard," I admitted, rubbing the back of my neck.  
"Well let's hope our DADA lesson won't be – we're with the Gryffindor's again," Yelena said. I groaned "I thought they'd fix the jinx up," I cried.

"Apparently Professor Hughes wanted us to be together – said after Mary's accident, learning to be friendly with each other would be good," Cleo said.  
"That is good – if it weren't for the fact he's probably doing it to stop us from becoming Death Eaters," I said as we went back to our dorms and changed back into our uniform.

Not only did Professor Hughes force the two houses to be together, but he was also usually late so we were waiting outside the class with a very hostile atmosphere and I couldn't catch a break as Mary turned and walked right up to me "You lying slag," she hissed, "You didn't even get hurt by my jinx." I looked at her as if she were dirt under my shoe

"You shouldn't have used the Stupefy curse to begin with," I said, "I'm hardly to blame for your own savagery."  
"I'll show you savagery!" she cried and immediately she whipped out her wand

'Expelliarmus!' it flew out of her hand and I turned to see Evan Rosier standing next to me with a smirk on his face. It was like a trigger as suddenly the Gryffindor's and Slytherin's pulled out their wand "ENOUGH!" I cried and suddenly everyone turned to see me "Thank you for protecting me Evan, but you can put your wand down – that goes for you too Potter," I said looking at the two who were leading the charge. They stood still, not knowing what to do "Do you really want to start a fight before class? Put your wand down before you lose more points for your house and you end up owing the school house points," I growled. James felt guilty, it was solely him and Sirius that were responsible for Gryffindor being in last place and his wand lowered causing Evan to lower his wand too. "Nice work MacDonald," I snapped, "I thought Gryffindor was supposed to be the House for the Brave but here you are asking your house mates to do the dirty work for you." She turned red

"I can fight you on my own," she growled

"Then show me. I'll be more than happy to verse you in a duel – as long as you can keep to the rules unlike _last time _where you tried to surprise me while my back was turned," I said, "I have a busy schedule though so make it quick."

"How about now then princess," she hissed. I smirked at her

"Evan dear," I said, without turning my head, "Would you mind calling this duel?"  
"With pleasure," he said.

"Mary, I don't think this is a good idea," Lily said agitatedly, but Mary shrugged her friend off. Cleo smirked "Try not to do too much damage Ariana," she said. People cleared away from us and I took my school robes off and handed them to Yelena before walking up to Mary, with my wand in my hand. We bowed before turning and walked the paces away from each other. "Stop!" Evan cried and I stood still, looking at the two of us eagerly "Wands at the ready – FIGHT!" I spun around  
"Snopia Vernus!" I cried and blue light flashed towards Mary as I rolled out of the way of her Disarming spell. The spell settled at her feet and her legs were encased in ice. I stood up, straightening as she tried to break the spell. Time to have fun, I thought to myself as I cast a Bat Bogey Hex and she stood there with bats flying out of her nose. Finally "Petrificus Totalis!" I cried before she could even lift her wand. I undid the ice spell so she could fall back onto the floor as rigid as a board. "Was that all?" I said, turning to Yelena and retrieving my robes and putting them on  
"Ariana Dumbledore, wins the duel!" Evan called, causing cheering to erupt from the Slytherin side.

"Note to self, join the duelling club," I muttered to my friends who cheered for me. I undid the hex on Mary before Lily did. "Believe it or not Mary you don't mean a thing to me," I said, "As long as you keep out of my sight, I won't hex you again." I turned and saw Professor Hughes had opened the door and was smiling at us "What's going on here?"  
"Just friendly chat," I muttered as I walked into class and sat in my seat behind the class. People whispered but I was left alone. Even James and Sirius didn't say a word to me even though I'd just hexed a fellow Gryffindor.

I didn't rule Slytherin yet, but I was now centre of attention of the first year Slytherin's. They sat close by me during dinner and tried to speak to us. I could see Yelena having trouble remaining aloof at the idea of all these people wanting to be her friend, but she managed. Usually, I didn't respond, but when the talk died I'd add in a "Is that so?" and it caused the girls around me to continue to gossip. Third year boys were speaking to Cleo, but she wasn't really paying any attention to them. When they finally gave up a girl by the name of Jenny Parkinson turned to Cleo "You're so lucky! I wish the third year boys would speak to me!" she said. Cleo smirked at her and I knew why. The gossip behind her back had died and now she was the object of admiration. "Did you hear the wolf cry yesterday from the Forbidden Forest?" a girl said to her friend

"I did," Yelena said, looking worried causing the girls to turn

"Please," I said, dismissively, "It's common knowledge there's werewolves that live there." A few of the customer's at the Hog's Head were werewolves. They usually had a place to strap themselves in for the full moon, but they may have let themselves free in the Forbidden Forest. To shoot a werewolf was not considered a crime in wizard law and I was worried for them. Some wizards and witches had taken it upon themselves to hunt werewolves for fun. "Are you going away from Christmas?" Yelena asked me  
"Perhaps," I said, shortly, biting into a piece of chicken. I didn't know what Uncle wanted me to do. I'd been so wrapped up in becoming the person I was that I'd forgotten the other part of the bargain. I was to become his disciple and with his help I could carry out revenge. "This school's so boring, nothing ever happens," Cleo sighed. On the contrary it was only half way through the week and I was exhausted being somebody I wasn't, but to protect myself I had to keep going.

The next morning at breakfast, I saw a tumble of different coloured feather's fall in front of me. I saw some eagle owl fighting with Cairo. I separated the two and saw that the owl had a letter for me and Cairo was just jealous. I pulled the griffon into my lap and scratched it behind the ears, making sure it lost sight of the owl as I pulled the letter off its foot. Even if it had been a full eagle, it would not have been much of a match for a griffon and I healed the wounds on the owl with a few healing spells I'd stumbled across in the library. It chirped happily as I fed it a bit of meat and it waited – obviously it had been commanded to wait till I replied.

_Adeline,_

_I would like for you to come to the Black Residency at number 12 Grimmauld Place during Christmas Break. I do understand that remaining at the Hog's Head Tavern in Hogsmeade is in your best interests, however, your father was a dear friend of mine and I will not be able to rest easy until I have properly seen to it that you are well looked after. Should the situation have been reversed I have no doubt in my mind your father would have raised Regulus or Sirius as his own. Should you change your mind, the House of Black already has a room awaiting you and both myself and my wife await you with open arms._

_If you need anything at all, be it money or advice do not hesitate for a moment to ask it from me_

_Yours_

_Orion Black_

I shook a little but refused to cry in public. I folded the letter and pocketed it before producing parchment from my bag

_Uncle Orion,_

_Thank you for your invitation and I would like to gladly accept it from you. Spending time with you will be as close to spending it with my family as I will ever be able to achieve and it means a lot to me. I have missed you very much and am eager to see Regulus once more and know that simply being there for me after so long alone is more than I could ever ask of you. I now eagerly await the school break to see you and Aunt Walberga once more._

_P.S. from now on please refer to me as Ariana Dumbledore. The letters are being read because of the war_

_Yours_

_Ariana Dumbledore._

I folded the parchment up and Cairo got restless as I put it around the eagle owls leg and not him. The owl was eager to leave and jumped off the table as soon as I secured it and I restrained Cairo so it wouldn't chase after the bird. "Is Orion Black your uncle?" Yelena asked, she'd been reading the letter. "No, it's in pure blood tradition you call each other Uncle and Aunt," I answered, "Come on we have potions."

Potions had become my ideal class it seemed. Professor Slughorn took time to give me extra praise, more so than the other Slug Club members such as Evans and Snape. All I had to do was suggest I wanted something and he'd give it to me. So that was the secret, you had to be mean to get people to like you. Sirius was also hooked onto the intrigue and asked me questions as I made my potions to which I would answer as vaguely as I could. I didn't make it look like he disgusted me – he would probably think I was being a typical Slytherin. No, instead I just made it seem like to me, he was uninteresting. Transfiguration was at first, a difficult class but after I made a few gossipy comments on the Hufflepuffs in class, nobody dared to come against me like Mary MacDonald had. Charms was pretty similar, but I was a little meaner there because we were with Ravenclaw instead of Hufflepuff, but it was DADA where I was most popular in. Some of the weaker Slytherin's stayed close to me and though I didn't make it seem like I was, I protected them from the likes of Sirius and James. "Herbert, want to duel?" James said, grinning at the poor Slytherin boy on Friday's class. I got up off my seat

"I'm bored Potter, you'd better put up a better fight than your housemates," I said, taking Herbert's spot. After my show at the Slug Club party, James was actually a fan of mine and in the past two days he'd occasionally come up to me with Quidditch statistics. I wanted to look bored in front of him, but I didn't. This was actually strategically perfect. Being in the position I was, we weren't friends, but we were close enough to make sure James wouldn't hex me without me provoking him first. In duelling, I had to admit, James was good. His spells weren't exactly creative, but his reflexes were incredible. You had to be on your toes to dodge his spells and he'd throw five or six spells at you before you could cast one, which was why you had to make sure that one spell counted and I did make sure of it. His bones had turned to jelly when I was done and he was lying on the floor like a crumpled blanket. I quickly undid the spell as I smoothed my hair down "That was interesting," I said, undoing my own overly enlarged right arm that he'd hexed – the Club Limb hex, more of a joke spell then one used for duelling. "Sorry about that, first thing that popped into my head really," he said. I bit back a comment and shrugged "Keep practicing maybe one day you'll beat me," I said, walking back to my seat. Cleo and Yelena were idly looking at a game of Wizards Chess in front of them. I looked at the pieces and felt my hand itch. Tactics were my speciality and it was why this plan was working. I could think ahead, predict people's moves "Sirius," I said, turning to the boy lazily relaxing on his chair "Want to play some chess?" He looked confused, but shrugged

"Sure," he said. I took the board and lay it out for him and watch him as he looked at the bored, completely unaware of the fact four years ago, we had been doing the exact same thing. This would be my first match since Callum had died "You can move first," I said and he did.

"Queen to E4," I called

"Are you sure?" the Queen piece looked surprised and I glared at her and she moved

"You put the Queen out first?" he asked surprised and I smirked

"If the Queen doesn't lead, how can she expect her subjects to follow?" I asked. He didn't know it yet, but like the game of chess, I would defeat him.

* * *

_Haha, seems like Ariana's playing chess again and look out for the next installment! It'll be Ariana's training with her Uncle and the story will get a little away from Hogwarts, but will be full of action! Tell me what you think :)_

_Thanks for you reviews guys_

_and to the guest that was bullied, I'm really proud of you for fighting back (might not mean much from a stranger!) and don't worry about the story, I'm a huge fan of stories with strong morals and this is no exception, you're just going to have to wait and find out the meaning ;) (and trust me it's not 'beauty and being a jerk to everyone will get you somewhere in life')_


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter

I woke up early in the morning with Cleo and Yelena. It was Saturday and I would be training with Uncle. We had woken up every morning two hours before everyone to get dressed and look perfect, but today, I closed my eyes and spun the kitometrix anti-clockwise 360 degrees and was relieved to find the old me staring back in the mirror. I put on my old robes and shoes and found it funny to see that I didn't suit Cleo and Yelena. "I'll see you guys soon," I promised them and they bid me goodbye as I went out to the kitchen and found something to eat among surprised house elves before going back to the Room of Requirement and getting to Ariana's portrait. I heard Uncle Abe in the bathroom already up and I quietly sneaked out the front door and locked it behind me before trudging in the cold to the brothel.

Men were on their way out of the building and they saw me walking by. Embarrassment crossed their faces, but I knew it wasn't enough to stop them from coming. I went to the run down apartments and got to the wonky door that led to the beautiful three story townhouse Uncle lived in. I knocked and he opened it, fully cloaked. "Nice and early," he muttered as he shut the door and shed his layers to reveal his youthful face "How's school?" he asked, sounding like a concerned parent. "Everything's going to plan. The first year Slytherin's listen to my every word and the other houses respect me enough not to hex me," I said.  
"Then you're happy?" he asked.

"No," I said, hesitantly before turning to him, ". I want to be the Head of Slytherin and someone to be respected of by other houses – no matter what year. I sacrificed so much, I deserve more."  
"Sounds like you really are a Slytherin," he chuckled as a house elf appeared out of nowhere and served me tea as I sat down to have breakfast. "Orion Black's asked me to spend Christmas with the Blacks," I said

"I'll be needing you during the holidays," Uncle said.  
"I've already accepted," I answered, "He was my father's friend. Can't I spend a night there?" He sighed "_One_ night," he said, firmly and I smiled

"So! What's training going to be like?" I asked.

"Brutal," he said shortly and I frowned "Remember how I told you a few months ago I couldn't teach you anymore fighting skills – that the rest had to be learnt in a real fight?" he asked. I nodded slowly "We'll I meant it. Before I teach you how to use the Kitometrix, you're going to have to be able to protect yourself in that body."  
"What do you have in mind?" I asked slowly

"We'll be venturing out into the muggle world dear," he said, sipping on his tea, "They have a lovely little sport there, it's called 'Street Fighting' completely illegal but it'll teach you how to survive seeing as the sport has got no rules."

"I'll get beaten to a pulp won't I?" I said, frowning. He sighed

"I _should_ let that happen," he said, "It was how I was taught by my mentor – but I've grown too fond of you, so I'll put you in with an easier opponent and build you up. Remember, this is strictly no magic and some of these people carry knives – especially the weaker ones."  
"Then shouldn't I carry a knife too?" I asked, "I might as well make sure I'm at an advantage."  
"For on field work, by all means, but this is training. I want you to attack them at a disadvantage," he said. I sighed "Something tells me I'll be hurting tonight," I said.

We took our time finishing breakfast and I went down and walked with him out of Hogsmead. A new building had come up within the week and I saw a dark, looming shack surrounded by a fence on top of a hill "What's that?" I asked, looking at the building.

"I thought you'd know, Albus Dumbledore commissioned it," Uncle said. I shook my head

"I haven't spoken to him since my first day at school," I said.

"It's an odd building," he said, "I went to inspect it and found the doors are painted on and the windows are fake. It's got no openings at all." A house with no entrance?

"That is odd," I agreed, "Maybe we'll find out more about it later on."  
"Maybe," Uncle said as we walked by it and got to a quiet corner of the street "Give me your hand." Side along Apparation, I'd read about it as I held his hand and closed my eyes. Immediately I felt like I was being squeezed into a tight tube and I felt the wind get forced out of my lungs. When I felt the ground again I fell to the floor, gasping for breath "That was worse than what they said," I muttered as I gasped and stood up. I looked around to see I was in a muggle commercial area, there were factories everywhere. I straightened up "Where's the fight?" I asked.  
"It's ten o'clock now. The fight will most likely occur during the worker's lunch break. It'll be a light thing to prepare you for the night battles, but that gives you two hours to prepare," he said. I immediately got around to stretching and exercising lightly enough so that I didn't wear myself out. My Uncle went from the blonde haired, handsome boy he was into a large, bold man with a fur coat on. He looked like a pimp mixed with a bouncer and began counting a wad of muggle money. I kicked the air hard and continued to punch nothingness until 12 o'clock came and a siren rang causes workers to come out of their factories. Looking at them, I realised I wasn't in England anymore. "I was looking for a good fight for my guy, not for him to massacre a little girl," a man cried coming up to Uncle. "What are you complaining about? I'll pay you won't I?" my Uncle said, "Kaitlin will fight Marcus today. Kate are you ready?"

"I am," I said, figuring he was talking to me. Why did I agree to this so easily?

"See, bring your boy out," he said. The man sighed and beckoned a boy twice my size to come over. I looked at him nervously – hadn't he said he'd give me an easy fight? This man looked like he could pick me up and throw me over his shoulder and I couldn't stop him. "Okay everyone gather into station three!" Uncle called, "We have a fight! Place your bets." It was like he was using magic, everyone in the crowd turned and followed him. I paled slightly as the boy grinned darkly at me as we followed everyone to a make shift circle made by the crowd, where we'd be fighting in. "I don't know about this," I told Uncle. He looked at me seriously

"You can't back out I'm afraid," he said, "Once the Kitometrix pierced your heart there was no turning back." He was right. I fingered the device before forcing myself in front of the large man. This was a fight for survival. I was going to win not because I wanted to, but because I had to. I was the last Westwood on earth and my family had died saving me. This was just the first step to making those who had hurt my parents pay. Instead of seeing the man's face, I now saw the face of the Head Auror that night my parents had died and I felt my body warm with rage. "Get ready! FIGHT!" I heard and I immediately raced up to him without hesitation. He swung his leg up to me, but I rolled out of the way and pushed my leg around to sweep his legs out from underneath him. He topped to the ground and I jumped onto him, clasping my hands around his neck and tried to strangle him, but he punched me in the face and I fell back, my head spinning. No, I wasn't going to just sit here and wait for him to get me. I forced myself onto my legs and dodged his next punch and drove my knee up to his solar plexus causing him to get winded. I brought my elbow down sharply onto his back and he fell down, but brought his leg around and I fell down onto my back side too, but I got back up and grabbed his arm and twisted it, till he surrendered and when he did the image of the Head Auror left and I saw the man instead. I immediately let go and the man who was his manager reluctantly put my hand up to show I had won. The crowd cheered and as soon as he let go of my hand, I fainted.

…

"Can't take a punch can you," Uncle laughed as I began to rouse.  
"W-where am I?" I asked, dazed.

"Shanghai, China," he said. I opened my eyes to find we were in a beautiful room. I steadied myself on my feet and walked over to the large window and opened it to find it was night on a large city that was lit with lights. "I love magic," I muttered to myself. Uncle laughed

"Change into this," he said, pointing to muggle clothes, "We've got a bit of work left before the day ends." I dressed into another school uniform, but this time, it was a muggle school uniform with a skirt and white shirt, what was different was this had a pair of pantihose that buckled up to a pair of briefs that I wore over my underwear. These were the type of pantihose you saw the brothel girls wear. My Uncle saw me looking at the mirror in disgust and frowned "Sorry dear, it's one of _those_ meetings," he said, "You won't be as disgusted when you see what the other girls wear." I didn't really question what he did as I followed him out of the room in my ridiculous costume and onto the streets of China. He gave me a coat to wear over my clothes and I took it gratefully as we caught a taxi. It was odd driving instead of flying as I watched the quiet muggles go through day to day life. "You won't be fighting today, but you'll get a good look at some of the people you'll be up against," he said. I was glad I wasn't going to be fighting, he'd healed my bruise but my head was still swimming a little. "You could have apparated," I muttered

"These people are used to magic," he said, "I want to be rather conspicuous." I frowned, where on earth were we going? The taxi stopped and the person said in English he wouldn't go any further because he was afraid his taxi would get smashed and Uncle paid him generously before leading me out and onto the dank streets of what seemed to be the red light district. "You can take the coat off now," he said and I looked at the girls around me wearing barely anything and realised I'd fit in with my silly clothes, so I handed the coat to him and I stopped getting stared at. We got to a parking lot and took a urine smelling elevator to the second highest level. In the elevator, Uncle used his kitometrix to change into a young Chinese man in his twenties. He put his coat on and looked very sleek as he put an arm around me. When the door's opened I was surprised to see it was packed with people. There were sleek looking cars and girls wearing even less than the girls outside. They had tattoos on their faces and their hair was coloured in colours I'd only seen Andromeda experiment with when I was six. Nobody seemed to care I was eleven. I followed Uncle over to a circle made in the crowd by cars and music was cranked to the highest level, but nobody was dancing. I saw a woman who had a scarf around her body but it was strategically placed so that it covered everything. Her lips were painted black and there was thick black lines framing her eyes. She was the only one here who had black hair and it fell like waterfalls down her back. The man who had draped his arm around her beamed at Uncle and said something in Mandarin "English!" Uncle cried in a voice that had a Chinese accent. The man sniffed in disapproval, but continued to speak in English "Are you going to fight for us today?" he asked. Did Uncle fight in these places?

"Not tonight," he said, "I'm here for a show, maybe lose a couple of grand on a few bets." The man smirked "Why bet when you know you'll lose?" he asked.  
"For the rush you get when you think you can win big," he said, shrugging. The man looked at me  
"Surprised to see a girl around you – are you sure she's still not wearing diapers," he laughed.

"I'll be working the crowd Chen, take care of her will you?" he said and pushed me over to the man. I went over to the woman next to him and he smirked at me "I wonder what you did to owe that guy your body," he said.

"My father owes money," I said, when I realised he was actually asking me a question.

"Well I didn't come here to babysit, take care of her Kyla," he said to the girl who immediately turned to me as the man took his hand off her back and went into the crowd. "Witch?" she said. I looked at her surprised "How do you know?" I asked. She smiled

"I'm an ancient dear," she said. She didn't look ancient. As soon as I thought that she laughed

"I can read your mind, better be careful what you think around me," she said, winking, "Being an ancient means I use old magic, it doesn't mean I'm old."

"Can I use ancient magic?" I asked, eager at meeting her  
"Some forms, like the one I use. I don't have a single drop of magical blood in me. Your kind calls me a muggle," she said, "But if you dedicate your life to the art, you can learn – as long as you start young and are willing to sacrifice." I thought better than to ask her what she'd sacrificed. I'd sacrificed my heart, I thought to myself as I touched the kitometrix again, feeling the smooth metal underneath. "You'll be safe as long you stay by me," she said. She pulled out a beautifully intricate black fan with molten lit fiery ancient Chinese letters on it "What's that?" I asked, looking at it. She smiled "Ancient artefact. For my magic I need one of these objects for it to work," she said. Though she had initially looked odd at first, Uncle had said I could trust ancients, so I did my best to stick by her. The crowd cheered as two fighters came out. They were both surprisingly skinny. Sure they had muscle on them, but they weren't as beefy as the wrestlers or boxers you saw. "Street fighting requires agility and tactics more than strength," Kyla whispered behind her fan. I looked at the faces of the hungry people around me, waiting to see whether they'd won the bet or not. Without thinking I held onto Kyla's hand like I'd sometimes done with Hazel when I was frightened. I looked up to apologise, but she smiled softly at me. That taught me better than to judge a book by its cover, I thought to myself and no longer cared about how little she wore. A pretty girl came out "Get ready. FIGHT!" she cried and immediately the two launched at each other. It was absolutely brutal. They punched and kicked at each other, they bit each other and scratched at each other so that one man had lost a tooth and his ear was bleeding and the other had a bite mark on his arm and a chunk of his hair had gone. He raced through the crowd and found a metal chain and brought it out, spinning it in the air. I gasped and saw the other man pull out a knife. If I thought it'd been brutal before, it was disgusting now. The chain smashed against the man's body and head and the other man had his leg and stomach stabbed. Finally, the chain man strangled the man till he went blue and fainted and he barely managed to get up to claim his prize. The crowd cheered and engulfed the fighter. I stayed back with Kyla "You look pale, do you want to lie down?" she asked me.  
"Uh – y-yeah," I stuttered

"Here, let me help," she said and fanned me using her artefact. Immediately I felt my mind clear and my body strengthen "That's cool," I admitted and she laughed again as Chen came back and put his arm around her. Out of somewhere in her clothes she produced a card and handed it to me "If you need me you can find me here," she said. I looked down to see it was a card to the Presidential suite of a hotel. "Guess I got lucky today," Uncle said, "Which means you my dear, can eat tonight." He was really getting into character, I thought to myself. Chen smirked "And here I was upset that you won," he said, "Lucky you." He said that last bit to me. Uncle pulled me back over to the elevator and practically everyone in the ring said goodbye to him showing me he was a regular here. When we got into the elevator, he didn't bother changing back to his usual look. "That was terrifying," I admitted. "If you want to go to Orion Black's house during the Christmas break I want you to win one of those fights," he said, "If you can't, don't think about going." I was surprised at how harsh he was as we got out of the elevator and walked down the streets. I felt the Kitometrix again – no matter what type of person he turned out to be, it was too late to back out, so I had to win those fights.

He took me to a shady door and we entered it to find a surprisingly high class restaurant. "Mr Choi," a saw an elderly man greet him lovingly. The restaurant was absolutely packed, I didn't think we'd get a seat "Come this way sir," he said and led us up the stairs to a much higher class level and gave us a seat at the balcony, overlooking the street. I sat down and looked at the menu. I couldn't read it at all. "You'll have to study other languages," Uncle said ordering something for himself as well as for me. "They treat you so nicely here," I said, surprised

"Get used to it Ariana, you'll need to network around the underworld of every country too if you want to join me," he said. I nodded my head, there was so much for me to do in seven short years.  
"I wish I'd started earlier," I said

"No you don't," he said, "You should have enjoyed your childhood."  
"So is this why you let me do what I want in Hogwarts? You want me to learn socialising skills in the school?" I asked. He nodded "Did you even care that I was getting bullied?" I snapped. He looked at me "Ariana, today I should have thrown you into the ring like my mentor had. You would have been brought to the edge of death and that would have taught you the desperation you need to fight, but I couldn't because you are the closest thing I have to a family. As much as I do not want you to follow my line of work, you are too perfect of a disciple. You have the drive to become one of us without quitting due to your family's death, yet you still have a pure enough heart for the Kitometrix to not kill you. I was worried when I heard you got bullied, but bullying isn't going to kill you. Can you see what a petty thing it is now compared to the ring?" He was right. When I went to school it seemed like such a big thing, but compared to some of the things I'd seen today, it was surprisingly a petty matter – nothing to get worked up over as much as I did. "You're right," I said, "It's nothing."  
"Hogwarts, however, is a smaller, controlled version of what's happening in England Ariana, it's the perfect place to train. Now I want you to have learned Russian, French and Mandarin till the Christmas break," he said.  
"I'm guessing I can use magic," I said. He shrugged

"As long as you can speak them for the rest of your life, I don't care how you learnt them," he said.

"Got any idea's where I can learn how to fight with a chain?" I asked.

"Find someone in Hogwarts," he shrugged

"Hogwarts is a place I can find someone who would teach me how to duel with magic – and maybe how to win a Quidditch game. I doubt even the muggle borns know how to fight with their fists," I said. He frowned "I know a Russian fellow who was an ex-street fighter," he said.  
"What happened?" I asked.  
"He got beat up pretty bad," he said. Something told me he meant he'd gotten into a life threatening situation and finally decided to quit. "Where do I find him?" I asked.  
"Russia," he shrugged.  
"Oh, well that's great," I said, sarcastically. Uncle grinned and reached into his pocket and produced a box. I took it and opened it to find a necklace with a thick bronze world globe on it. I picked it up to find it was surprisingly light. "Put it on." I did as I was told just as the food arrived and I saw dumplings in front of me. I used my fingers to pick the dumplings up "Learn the three country's culture too," Uncle growled using chopstick as I placed it in my mouth. I chewed once before spitting it out – it was slimy!  
"What was that?" I cried. He grinned

"Eel," he said, "Particularly slimy, raw eel." I wiped my tongue to find slime on it and fought the urge to throw up "Why would you do that?" I cried

"You need to learn the language – quickly," he said while laughing.

We walked out of the restaurant "Now think about the place you want to go and press the area it's at on the pendant," he commanded. I shrugged and thought of Hogsmead before pressing the part that was England. Immediately, I began spinning, but it wasn't the nasty feeling of apparating. Uncle apparated next to me "That's a useful little thing for an underage witch. Completely undetectable and doesn't make the 'popping' sound apparating does," Uncle explained. I looked at the pendant "It's an artefact right? Like the one Kyla uses," I said.

"A little different than that. Sure, it's like her fan, but she's got something else that helps her read minds," he said, "Come on, you're probably exhausted. You can sleep in your own bed," he said, "I have work to do."

"Bye then," I said and turned to sneak into Uncle Abe's house and I heard Uncle laugh at me

"I didn't think you'd be nice enough to say goodbye after what I've put you through," he cried.

"I was the one who was stupid enough to agree to something I didn't understand," I answered and he smiled "Ariana!" I turned and he threw me a thick wad of cash

"What's this?" I asked.

"You're winnings for the fight – and the stuff I won in Shanghai," he said. I pocketed it before slipping through the door and getting back to the castle. When I got to the dorm, people looked at me distastefully and I realised I was still in the muggle uniform and I was my real self. I snuck up the stairs in the dorm till I got to the one with Yelena and Cleo and quickly changed into my night gown before turning the kitometrix and turning back into the pretty version of me. I was so exhausted by everything that I fell into bed and immediately sleep took me.

* * *

_Tune in next time for Ariana's training as well as taking a lesson from Voldemort's books to become the Queen Bee of Slytherin._

_Do you guys like the new twist?  
_


	9. Chapter 9

_I'm so sorry guys! I was hit with a supplementory exam and I didn't have time to write! FORGIVE ME! I hope to make it up to you guys with this chapter!_

* * *

I'd whispered the events of the weekend to Cleo and Yelena during dinner, taking care not to be heard. "We can head over to the library," Yelena suggested, "I'm sure there's a language spell there."

"We'll need to train," I said, "We're all pretty weak." Cleo frowned

"Why'd you say 'we'," she asked, suspiciously. I grinned at her

Every morning we woke up three hours before everyone else and I forced my two friends to go jogging around the Hogwarts lawns. At first, it had been painful. We'd stop half way and have to catch our breath, before cutting across the lawn and going back into the castle, but it got easier the more we did it and soon we went from one lap to two. It ended with Cleo and Yelena coaching me into doing push-ups and we used one of the Quidditch training pads as a boxing bag for me to use to increase muscle mass. After that, we'd take a shower and then make sure our homework was done and get ready for school. Any chance we had we'd go to the library to figure out a language spell – which was actual quite hard to come by seeing as it was potions that did the trick and they all wore off in a few days. Finally, we decided Professor Flitwick was the best way to go and out of the three of us, he seemed to be the most fond of Yelena so on Wednesday she went up to him and asked, telling him some story about a French exchange student coming in to live with them on the Christmas break. It worked and we were given the spell. We spent the afternoon practicing before finally Cleo pointed her wand at me "_Lestalia Russo_!" she cried and orange light engulfed me.

"How do you feel?" Yelena asked after the light died down.

"Not very different," I admitted, "I don't think it worked."

"No – try this!" she cried and handed me a Russian book we'd found in the library. I opened it to a random page and saw that though the words were not turning into English – they made sense. I said them in Russian and looked up to my friends and beamed "It worked!" I cried.

"My turn!" Yelena cried and aimed her wand at me to get me to learn French.

We ended up using the spell on each other so that we all knew the three big languages, but that wasn't all that changed. It was during these days, looking at the students of Hogwarts walking around idly – being handed their lives on a silver platter, I realised how much I wanted to control Hogwarts and I knew I could use a lesson out of Voldemort's books. First up – followers and I knew you needed to give something in order to receive people's loyalty and that opportunity came Friday morning with Hayley Gibbons. She was crying in the common room much to the annoyance of Bella who was sitting by the fire, surrounded by her pure blood Death Eater friends, showing off her new tattoo – the Dark Mark. I sat down on the couch and turned to Hayley "Gibbons, if you're just going to sit and weep there you might as well get up and tell me the problem," I growled half-heartedly and shut a book I'd put in my lap for decoration - to make it seem like I had better things to do with my time and she was annoying me which was why I was asking her the problem. She looked up and I immediately saw that on her forehead, created by giant zits were the words 'Blood Dog'. I couple of huffs of laughter went around the room and I sighed and patted the seat next to me to get her to sit down. Bloody Dog was a derogative term used for pure bloods "When, where and who?" I asked. "Daniel Murray, he cornered me in the third floor corridor and did it to me this afternoon after Charms," she said. I turned to Yelena who knew everything about everyone in the castle  
"He's a fourth year Gryffindor," she said,  
"She was saying stuff about mudbloods," a boy said, accusingly. I glared at him

"So?" I snapped. He paled

"W-well, she was," he said.  
"So I'm guessing you were there and you did nothing," I hissed. I needed Slytherin's to group together. That was the problem with us, we tended not to back each other up which made us easy pickings. "Where would he be now?" I asked Yelena. She shrugged

"Gryffindor common room," she suggested.

"Anybody here happen to know what the password is?" I asked.

"No, but I'm sure I can hex it out of someone in the corridors," Cleo said, casually. I got up and quickly undid the nasty little hex on Hayley's face before turning and leaving the common room. I was going up the main staircase when I realised half of Slytherin was following me, waiting to see what I'd do. I sighed, not bothering to ask them to stop as I walked up the stairs. On my third flight of stairs, the stair began to move. Cleo moved in and hexed them to go back. "Defence mechanism for when certain houses have hostile intentions," Cleo muttered as we continued to be led all the way up to the floor where the Gryffindor common room was. Sure enough a second year boy was there, talking to his friend. I waited as Cleo went over to them and hexed a stupor over them before asking for the password. The poor things didn't know what hit them. Cleo came back 'Kipperweed' she said before I turned to Yelena

"We'll be waiting in that classroom over there," I said, pointing to an empty classroom, "I want you to find him and lead him to us." She nodded and shed off her Slytherin robes before walking over to the portrait of the fat lady that the boys had pointed out to us was the door to the Gryffindor common room. I went into the classroom along with the other Slytherin's who waited at the back to see what I'd do. I leaned against a table in my robes, knowing right now I looked pretty yet frightening. We waited twenty minutes till the door opened "I'm sure I left it here," Yelena whined as she tugged two Gryffindor boys in, both looking at Yelena as if she were the prettiest thing on earth. She pushed them in and locked the door behind her and smirked, her innocent face clouded. The two of them turned to me, in the centre of the room waiting. Cleo immediately cried out "_Accio wands_!" and their wands flew out of their robes before they could even think about using them. "Now, Daniel was it?" I asked, softly, but they flinched knowing what I was going to do "What's your name?" I asked to the red haired boy. He didn't answer "Yelena?"  
"Jason," she said for him.

"I've heard you hexed a very good friend of mine," I said, "You wrote 'Bloody Dog' on her forehead."

"She was calling Evans a mudblood!" he cried. For the first time I was aware Severus Snape was in the room and he stepped up, his wand coming out of his pocket "Severus," I called and he turned and I smiled softly at him "Step back dear, if you want I'll give you your turn once I'm done," I said. He was agitated because Lily Evans was being brought up – and to me it seemed he was in love with her. He had enough good sense to step back into the crowd before I turned my head lazily back to the two boys in front of me "What has Evans got to do with you?" I asked.

"She's our friend!" Daniel said passionately and I smiled

"You know I love the bravery of Gryffindor," I said, "It always makes me so satisfied when I crush it out of them." Perhaps alone I wouldn't have worried them, but with so many Slytherin's grinning at them from behind me, I knew they were frightened. "Now Daniel and Jason, I'm a pure blood. Do you want to call _me_ a 'Bloody Dog'?" I asked. I took my wand out and cleaned it on my robes, waiting for them to answer. "You haven't called anybody a mudblood," Jason said bravely. I tinkled out a laugh "Cleo?" I asked

"Evans _is_ a mudblood," she said.

"Hand them back their wands," I said, playing a sadistic game. The two of them were going to grow up to become corrupt aurors, just like the ones that killed my family and I wanted to make them pay. Cleo didn't hesitate to throw them their wands back and they immediately grabbed them and tried to throw a spell "_FREEZIO_!" I cried and suddenly, their bodies froze in thin air. I got up and walked over to them, enraged "If I _EVER_ see you harm a Slytherin again or even mutter the word 'Bloody Dog' to any of us, I will hunt you down and make sure you can't never speak again, do you understand?" I asked. They paled and I smiled "Let me guess Sirius Black and James Potter inspired you to hurt Slytherin's right?" I could see in their eyes I was right. "_Seconda Utterus_!" I cried and they flinched in fear as light flashed on them. "There, now you can't tell anybody about what happened here." I turned to Hayley "What do you say if I turned them into actual Bloody Dogs?" I asked her. She smiled eagerly and nodded and I turned to them "I'll be keeping an eye on you," I said before hexing them and they shrunk into two small dogs. The freeze spell was still on them, so all they could do was sit and weather the humiliation of everybody in that room laughing at them. "If you still want them Severus, they're all yours," I said, opening the door to the classroom again and undoing the freeze spell so that they could move. Cleo and Yelena followed me down the main staircase "Is it permanent?" Yelena asked.  
"It'll only last tonight, but the humiliation will stay with them for far longer," I said. I went back to the common room and sat there, picking up my book again as I heard people retelling the story to the older years who hadn't bothered to come watch. Severus looked sulky and I went and sat over by him "What's got you?" I asked, but he didn't answer. I sighed, he was one of the few first years who didn't fall for my bravado "I can't believe you care for Evans," I said and he immediately turned to me "Don't touch her," he warned. I lifted my hands up in mock surrender

"Believe it or not she doesn't interest me," I said, "I'm just worried about you. I've seen the way Sirius and James mock you and I can't help but think it's because of Lily. She's a Gryffindor and she's always around them. She's putting you in their firing line, I don't want you to get hurt."  
"I can handle myself," he growled and I had to control myself from getting annoyed. _Nobody_ spoke to me like that – not after all I'd done to become this person. Instead, I laughed softly "I'm not going to stop you from seeing Lily, Severus," I said, "It's the fact you care about your friend so much that makes me want to take care of you." Obviously, he'd had a troubled life because he looked at me in stupor "I'm just saying if James and Sirius give you trouble please don't hesitate to tell me. I know you can handle yourself, but you're not invincible and those cowards like to gang up on you, I've seen it before. If you call for me, you're only evening out the odds, okay?" He nodded slowly and I got up and smiled warmly at him "Excellent, I'll see you tomorrow at potions," I said, cheerfully. I walked up to bed to see Cleo and Yelena on my bed. I kicked my trunk in anger when I got to my bed "What's up with you?" Cleo asked.

"Snape just spoke to me like I was dirt under his shoe," I hissed

"Calm down Ariana, he's nothing," Yelena said, "He's got no friends."  
"No," I said, "He's second in the class and he annoys Black and Potter to no ends. I want him on my side."

"Then do you want us to take care of him?" Cleo asked. I sat on my bed next to them  
"No, he doesn't respond to that – we need to be kind to him, that'll get him to come to our side," I said. "What of Lily Evans?" Yelena asked. Her name came up all the time – it annoyed me

"Leave her," I said, "I've no need to win over the hearts of Gryffindor, I want them to admire me, but I want them to fear me enough to do it at a safe distance. Lily can have their hearts." Lily Evans was getting popular – through _kindness_ of all things!

The next morning I found I was yet again talk of Slytherin. When I sat down not only first years, but second, third and fourth years came to sit near me, talk to me and congratulate me. I acted as if I didn't care much about it. "I don't know why you're all so excited about it," I said, "If any of you have a Gryffindor problem I'm more than happy to exterminate them for you." I added, but it surprised me. After years of torment by the three other houses, the house actually seemed lively by the fact someone was actually doing something apart from the little hexes the Death Eater wannabees did to the muggle borns in school. Daniel and Jason actually came into the Great Hall and a roar of laughter went through the Slytherin table. They turned bright red and left the Great Hall while the other houses looked at each other in confusion. What I also heard was a few girls scoffing at how I had become so popular. I mentioned it to Cleo who was all too happy to fix that for me, being the victim of girl's talk before. I told her to make sure not to get violent, they were Slytherin after all – our fan base of sorts. Bella came up to me "I heard about the little joke you played yesterday, you could have made the spell permanent," she said.

"I like watching the bravest in the school look at me in fear," I said darkly and she smirked "Got any Death Eater plans for the future?" she asked.

"I know you do," I said, changing the subject, "Congratulations, I saw the mark yesterday." She grinned, not at all bothered by the fact I was saying it out loud "The Dark Lord did it himself." I looked at her arm in admiration "I knew you were high up the ranks, but not that high," I said and she grinned, lapping up the attention "As soon as school finishes I'll be joining his inner circle," she said.

"I'll keep that in mind when I finish school myself," I said,

"Why?" Bella asked and I shrugged

"Even if I don't join the Death Eaters, I can tell you I'm an avid supporter," I lied, "No matter what job I do take on, I can be useful."

"What? Afraid of a little violence?" she asked, mocking me

"More disgusted by the mess it leaves," I answered coolly. She snorted and I could feel the older years look at me as if I was a simple minded first year. I needed Bellatrix on my side and seeing as she only cared for family, I had only one choice but to show her who I really was.

Classes went by normally and I let Yelena chat a little to the Hufflepuffs in class who always glanced at the three of us. They hung on her every word and when we were alone she jumped up and squealed in delight. I was glad for her – our plan was night I went to the common room and found Bella talking to her cousin Lucius. "Bella, would you mind if I have a word with you?" I asked. She turned to me "What for?" she asked, using the same bored tone I did, but she did it effortlessly

"The Dark Mark," I said and she smiled

"Got the guts to become a Death Eater, do you?" she asked

"Depends on how you answer my questions," I said and I led her up the girls dormitory's. When she got to my level, I shut the door. She frowned and looked at me suspiciously. "What do you want?" she asked and I could see her hand reach down to her wand. "Please Bella, I'd never see the day you'd point a wand at me," I said in my usual tone of voice. Her eyes narrowed

"Who are you?" she asked. I smiled and walked over, turning my back to her and twisted the knob on the Kitometrix and felt myself shape back before turning to her "I can't believe you couldn't put two and two together," I said.

"Adeline," she said.

"Sorry I fooled you for so long," I said and lay on my bed. The spell with my name lifted

"Ariana and Ariana," she huffed

"Neat little spell wasn't it," I said, smiling sheepishly. She looked at me angry, but not the same angry she had with other people, I was part of her friends and family now. "I'm sorry," I said quickly, "But let me explain." I told her about getting bullied and how I wanted to get stronger after watching her grow and how I'd made the second persona up of myself. "I wanted to protect myself after what happened with my family. I don't want to be helpless anymore," I said. A lot of what I'd told her had been praise about how she acted, so she didn't look mad anymore. "How'd you change?" she asked. I showed her the pendant with the globe around my neck "Metamorphmagus blood," I lied, "I found it in an antique store."

"Didn't know it was that useful," she said, eying it.

"You won't tell anyone will you Bella?" I asked. She sighed

"I guess not," she said and I hugged her tightly  
"You know your my favourite right?" I said. Suddenly she smiled

"You used to say that to me when you were this small," she said, pointing to her knees "And even then it was to get me to give you chocolate frogs." I smiled warmly at the memory

"Yeah and even then you wouldn't say no," I said and sighed "Life's so hard Bella when you're alone – even when I'm prettier I feel so lonely." I should have known better than to start talking about emotions when I was with Bella "It'll go when you get revenge," she said.

"Are you going to the House of Black for Christmas?" I asked her, changing the subject

"Are you?" she asked, surprised

"I bumped into Uncle Orion when I snuck out of the castle," I said.  
"What were you doing out there?" she asked

"I Death Eater wanted me to send a letter to Barty Crouch Junior," I said, "If she was caught Barty would have been too so I did it for her."  
"She let you do it for her?" Bella asked hotly. I looked at her with a lifted eyebrow

"Bella I've been doing errands for Death Eater's since I was eight. I'm trustworthy," I said, "As long as they pay me." It was her turn to lift her eyebrows

"And if they don't?" she asked. I grinned

"You don't need to worry," I said, pushing her playfully, "You're practically family, I'd do it for free." I joked. She shook her head "I can't believe they tried to kill you," she said. That sobered the mood

"I know you'll get insulted by this Bella, but be careful okay?" I said, turning to her, "I may be over-reacting, but I don't want to see you get hurt."

"I know your just saying that because of your family," Bella said. I shrugged

"You really are like family. I don't want to see another one of them get taken from me," I said. She got up "I'll see you at Uncle Orion's," she said, "And come like this, that other girl annoys me."  
"That makes two of us," I snorted, "Remember, don't even tell Cissa and Lucius." She waved her hand at me to show she understood as she left. To think the girl who had given me chocolate frogs as a child could be the Death Eater, hex master that frightened everybody in Hogwarts. It seemed Sirius Black wasn't the only Black that had changed over the years.

The weekend came and I snuck over to Uncle's and I told him I was exercising hard to get stronger. He approved and he made me wear a thick coat as he turned into a bear of a man – huge and hairy and we apparated to Russia – Siberia to be exact. My teeth chattered as we got to a wooden cabin in the middle of the freezing forest. Inside was nice and warm and I took my coat off and put it on an antler horn on the wall – in fact this man had a lot of heads mounted on his wall. I hated people killing animals for sport – thinking of the animals running away from the hunters made me think of my family running from aurors. "Who's there?" I turned to see a man aiming a wand in our direction. "Alexander!" Uncle cried  
"Peter!" the man cried and they hugged in a manly way, where they slapped each other on the back. I really hoped he wouldn't do that to me, they would break me if they did. "Who's this?" he asked in Russian, looking at me

"Katie," Uncle said, "I want her primed for a fight Christmas Eve." I thought he'd say no, but he sighed "It'll be a lot of work," he said

"I'll take training very seriously," I said, in Russian and I could see Uncle approved of my language skills. Alexander shrugged "Can you start now?" Uncle asked and he nodded.

I'd half expected him to beat me relentlessly, but he didn't. "We start off with strength training," the man said, taking me back into the cold and picking up a tree trunk as if it were nothing and tossing it. "You take that one and lift it up and down. Do squats until I tell you to stop," he said. I went to a smaller tree branch and began squatting up and down. I could barely lift it to begin with, but all I had to do was summon the faces of the thirty two aurors still working at the Ministry of Magic and I found strength. After that he began forcing me into the splits position. It hurt like hell, but I got there. "No matter how much we beef you up, you'll always be weak," he said, "We need to work on agility, speed and technique with you." He explained and I did as he asked. After forcing me into the splits three or four times, he commanded me to do it on my own. After that, he forced me to do cartwheel after cartwheel in the snow, over and over again, then bend backs, where he would make sure I was flexible enough to do it. He taught me stretch exercises to increase my flexibility and told me to walk with weights on my feet to increase my strength. The first month would be dedicated to making me the most flexible, quick and strong person I could be before I started actually training. Uncle left during the morning and didn't come back that night, but Alexander made me a nice dinner with meat from one of his kills and began talking about his life. He was almost completely self sufficient. He got water from the snow and the animals he killed he didn't for sport, but for meat. He had a few livestock in the barn and he got milk and cheese from them and he went down the mountain every three months for wheat to make bread. He told me he missed his wife dearly, she'd died from pneumonia ten years ago and when he'd spoken his mind he led me to a cosy looking room with a cot in it that I could sleep in. I lay in it gratefully and went to bed.

The next morning Uncle still hadn't come back, but Alexander continued his training. I did the exercises he taught me while he had breakfast and during the day I showed him the basics I'd learnt and he corrected any problems I had before making me do handstands and told me to walk like that for a few hours. If I fell, which I did, he'd make me start from the start. He made me do the splits between two beams and make me stay like that for hours as well. Of course, I'd fall, but he'd make me do it again. By nightfall, I was exhausted and wished for Kyla's fan to rejuvenate me. Uncle finally came at nine at night, while I had decided to crawl into the cot and succumb to sleep. He forced me up and I tiredly went back to Hogsmead using the pendant and crawled back to the Slytherin dorm and slept.

I wanted to sleep for two days straight but at four in the morning Cleo threw me out of bed "Come on sleepy head, time to exercise," she said, grinning darkly. She was holding a grudge for all the times I'd woken her up and dragged her out of bed. Yelena made a quick rejuvenation draught which I gladly took and it helped the ache in my muscles go and wake me up. We ran two and a half laps of the grounds and I began doing the exercises the Russian man taught me. Yelena clamped her legs shut when I'd told her he'd forced me into the splits. I wasn't going to do that to them, but they did the strength exercises with me before getting ready for class. During potions James turned to me to tell me the latest Quidditch gossip he'd heard which Sirius gladly chimed in with. It annoyed me to see the entire class was listening – and it was only half because of me. The other half was these two idiots who were popular because of their pranks and the fact they hexed people in the corridors. "Professor Slughorn," I called and he turned to me  
"Yes dear?" he asked. I'd cornered him privately

"Do you think it's time for a seat change?" I asked. He frowned

"Don't like Mr Black?" he asked. I shrugged and smiled

"Actually, my friends are in my class – I know it's childish but I want to sit with them," I said. He chuckled and shook his head "Girls," he said. I smiled at him and at the end of class he issued seat changes. James and Sirius were happy to be able to sit next to each other and I immediately went over to sit with Cleo and Yelena, who smiled at me. "Oh, look at Snape sitting with Evans," I heard James say, "Watch out Evans I think he fancies you." Severus turned a bright shade of red and Lily looked at James crossly "Shut up Potter," she hissed. She hated Potter? Well that was something we had in common, I mused. "What Evans? Do you like it?" James said. Sirius laughed, behind him and Lily turned red too

"Sounds like your jealous," I muttered and finally the attention lay on me. I winked at Severus before turning to James "What? Do you fancy Evans?" I asked, sounding surprised.

"Maybe I do," he said, shrugging. The crowd 'oohed'

"Well keep it to yourself Potter, I'm gagging over here," I said and Yelena giggled.

"Do you want some Potter love too?" he asked, not letting it end, as he grinned at me

"You're not my type," I said, coolly

"Yeah, it must be pure blood, right Slytherin?" Sirius said, smiling. I turned to him

"If that was a not-so-subtle-way of trying to make a pass at me Sirius _Black_, I want you to know I'm not interested, pure blood or not, it'll never work out between us," I said. He turned red as the crowd laughed and I let myself give a soft smile, showing it was all in jest – when it really wasn't. Lily looked at me in surprise – probably by the fact that I'd actually helped the girl out.

As we left potions, I heard Gryffindor's gossip about how 'cool' I was and I realised with distaste the way to get ahead of the Gryffindor's was to use James and Sirius. Cleo and Yelena picked it up too "Maybe you could use them," Yelena suggested,

"Use them, then destroy them," Cleo added. They were right, but how long would that take? All of these ideas circled in my head as I saw four boys pull Severus into a wall that was actually a secret passageway "That's our cue," I muttered to my friends as we followed them. We found them in a corridor with Severus already disarmed "I have to say four against one is a bit unfair," I said. They snapped around to see me there. "What do you want Ariana?" James asked. I dare say he'd want to use my last name, but he didn't know it. "Severus, I want Severus Snape," I said. Sirius smirked

"Yeah, you want him," he said, suggestively. I rolled my eyes and offered my hand to Severus

"You know for a bunch of Gryffindor's your awfully cowardly," I growled and James' smirk fell

"Pardon?" he asked.

"Four against one," I said, "I didn't take you for the type of person to gang up on someone James. Isn't the pride of Gryffindor the fact they fight their own fights?"  
"This isn't a fight," he said

"No, it's too unfair to be called one," I said, "If you want a gang fight, call me next time, if I remember correctly, I'm still a better dueller than you."

"I saw him snivelling around my potions set," James cried

"Knowing how much you like to dramatize things I'm going to read that as he happened to walk past the potion you were brewing and looked down," I said, rolling my eyes, "Come on James leave him be." He turned to Severus

"You're lucky Ariana saved you," James said. I couldn't believe he was not at all sorry he was bullying Severus four on one. I turned to Remus, the calmer one of the four "I expected better from you," I said, glaring at him as I led Severus out of the corridor. Before Severus could make another comment like 'I didn't need you help' I spoke first "Four on one, what pathetic excuses for wizards," I growled, "Watch your back Severus, it seems they've taken particular interest in you," I said, I knew the feeling as I remembered Sirius that night when he'd hexed me "Take care till I destroy them," I said. Severus looked up "You want to what?" he asked.

"I hate them Severus, more than possibly you. I want them to tremble in fear when they see me," I said, "You just wait, I'll take care of them." My shoes clicked all the way to Transfiguration where I was late and Professor McGonagall was quick to point that out "10 points from Slytherin each," she called. "Surprise, surprise, Gryffindor's Head of House taking points off Slytherin," I said, loud enough for the Slytherin's to hear. In fact, I was just mad. I'd been hoping for a happy life away from Sirius Black and here I was _needing_ him. I just had to wait, then I'd make him pay.

* * *

_Seems like the power's going to Ariana's head. What do you think? Tune in next time for the Slug Club Christmas Dinner!_


	10. Chapter 10

My entire October and part of November became routine. I trained on the weekends and became stronger and more agile than ever before. I went to another Slug Club luncheon where Winter and Roy were present and much to Winter's joy most of my predictions had been right. The entire club enthusiastically got into the conversation and half-way through the evening I'd steered the conversation to the lack of healing spells in the school curriculum, much to Slughorn's delight who was more than happy to bring the idea up with Professor Dumbledore. I got called on more and more to take care of _incidents_ and this was the dirty work of my job.

I won't lie to you, it wasn't pretty. We had a group of 'regular' Slytherin followers that would be our audience and an abandoned classroom on the third floor was where we carried out the deed. Gender or year did not matter. Slytherin's would come to me and after curfew we would go out and take care of them. I walked down the corridors and a mixture of awe and fear followed me. There was some part of me that screamed at me to stop – that I was turning into Sirius and James Potter, but the problem was it was effective. The amount of Slytherin's getting hexed was decreasing and it was the practical part of my brain that told me to keep on going and I did.

During lunch I sat by Bella who was more than happy to have me in her company, no longer challenging me, though I sometimes did waver in interest when she began talking about Voldemort. A new thing that happened was that I'd joined the duelling club and after spending relentless nights with Cleo and Yelena training, the three of us were now the stars of the club and there was a boost in Slytherin's who had decided to join. These months gave the Slytherin's the time they needed to acknowledge us and I found them all smiling and waving to me in the corridors. There was one thing however that I couldn't fix – Severus. No matter how much I tried to look out for him, he always slipped through my defences and would get hexed. We were sitting in Potions one morning when I finally couldn't take it anymore, spotting the ugly, purple welt on his face as I saw the 'Marauders' giggle about it. "Evans," I called and she turned around

"Isn't Severus your friend?" I asked her. She frowned and nodded, "You know who's hexing him don't you? Why don't you stick up for him?"

"He doesn't like it," she said lamely and she could tell by my expression what I thought of her

"Severus has a soft heart," I told her, "He cares about you a lot. The only reason he's getting attacked is because he's _your_ friend. Either you should take care of him or I'll take him from you." She looked surprised by my comment as I put my hand up and showed Professor Slughorn our finished potion and walked out.

The second half of November was spent actually learning how to fight with Alexander. He taught me an array of kicks first, like roundhouse kicks, side kicks even back kicks and he wouldn't let me progress till I learnt them all, then moved onto the punches and finally the blocks. When he was happy with all of that, he began teaching me combinations and finally, he slowly began versing me. "Block, block, kick – good!" he said as I blocked his slow punches. As we quickened the pace I began throwing my own kicks. He threw a punch and I cartwheeled out of the way and swung my foot up and kicked him in the side "Good," he said, approving. December finally hit and I didn't feel ready for an actual fight, but I wanted to see Uncle Orion badly, so I used every afternoon I had in the Room of Requirement with a practice dummy, learning combinations. One morning an invitation came to me and I opened it to find it was Slughorn's Christmas Party Invitation. Yelena let out a sigh when she read it – it meant work for her to make three dresses while I recited conversation topics as I kicked the dummy and Cleo researched the list of famous people coming.

"Excited about the Christmas Party?" I looked up to see Lucius Malfoy sitting on the couch by the fire.

"As long as I can get away from Potter and his Quidditch talk," I said. Severus snorted and Lucius smiled. I suggested to Lucius that Severus needed looking after and he'd taken Severus under his wing. I was sitting neatly on the floor with my homework out next to Bella who was sitting on the chair. "Have you seen the guest list?" Lucius asked, her knew I had

"It'll be a bore, like every other year," Bella snorted and I nudged her lightly

"Don't worry there are a few Death Eaters there," I said, lightly  
"Nobody important," she said. I shrugged

"There's the head of St Mungo's Hospital," I said, someone I was interested to listen to, "Allastor Moody from the Head Auror's Department. A few Ministry Officials – maybe the Minster of Magic himself, but it would probably to speak to the headmaster then the actual party, a few star Quidditch players from the world, Ollivander, Nimbus broomstick inventor, a few ambassadors, confectioners, spellmakers and that's to name a few – plus some creatures."  
"Creatures?" Lucius asked

"Apparently he has a dear old vampire friend who likes to come to these things," I said, dryly  
"Talking about creatures, have you heard about the 'shrieking shack'," I turned to see Narcissa Black join us. "If you're referring to that building in Hogsmead, it's preposterous," Bella answered swiftly.

"Why is it called the Shrieking Shack?" I asked

"Apparently you can hear voices coming from it," Narcissa said, "They say it's haunted. Even the ghosts don't go there." I frowned, there was something odd about that building, but my curiosity was overcome by the amount of things I had to do.

I spun around and looked for any imperfections at all. Nope, my simple satin white gown looked beautiful. It had a embroided white belt around the bottom of my chest "You've outdone yourself," I called to Yelena who came in wearing a beautiful blue dress and Cleo in her green dress. I checked my hair and saw not a single strand had come out of the braided bun. I was satisfied knowing I looked better than I'd ever done in my life as I walked down to the other Slytherin's waiting. Bella was beautiful in a black dress and we all went to Slughorn's party together. I could see Yelena looking like her head was up in the clouds, but I knew she was reciting the plan. I would prove to my Uncle I could network perfectly. We got to the room to find it tastefully designed with the other guests already there. Step 1 – stay away from the Quidditch captains and James Potter. I saw him in the centre speaking to Gordon Harrison with Roy Barns. I saw that he'd used his plus one to invite Sirius. Winter was right behind me and before he could drag me off, I pulled away from the crowd and found Regina Joice, the Head Healer of St Mungo's. She was chatting lightly to a seventh year Ravenclaw "So wolfsbane can be used like that?" the girl said in surprise

"Oh yes," Regina said. I found an opening and took it, I went over to the girl and smiled  
"I'm so sorry for interrupting like this, but I couldn't help but find your conversation interesting," I said, "I've always been interested in healing spells."

"Have you?" Regina said.  
"Yes, I'm Ariana _Dumbledore_," I said and her eyes widened

"I heard there was another Dumbledore enrolled in Hogwarts," she said.

"Adopted Dumbledore, but I was actually meaning to ask you, how do you go about becoming a healer? I'm finding Hogwarts lacking in its Healing courses," I said.

"It's a specialist program you take in third year," the Ravenclaw said dully. I had to stop myself from glaring at her "Can you tell me more about the training program?" I asked Regina

"Oh well it's similar to Hogwarts, it's a three year degree and you follow a mature Healer around to learn the spells," she said and I nodded

"But every case is so different," I said, "What happens if you've graduated and there's an unusual case?"  
"Well that's the beauty of healing, as long as you stick to common sense most problems are healed," she said. I continued to probe her about every aspect of Healing and she seemed more than happy to answer me. "I know it's early to say, but would you mind if I contacted you if I had any queries about Healing?" I asked her. She smiled

"By all means, it refreshing to see someone be as interested in Healing as I am," she laughed and I smiled "Saving a person's life on a daily basis? I don't know how anybody could turn up an opportunity like that." I turned my head "You'll have to excuse me, I've rudely forgotten to say hello to the host." I turned and walked off to Professor Slughorn and saw him speaking to Gilbert Manroe, a master spellmaker "Professor Slughorn," I said and he turned

"Ariana, my dear how are you?" he asked

"I just wanted to say what a wonderful party you've thrown, I'm thoroughly impressed," I said

"You look marvellous Ariana, what a pretty dress," he said. I smiled

"Yelena made it for me," I said, "It seems she wanted to show off for Gabrielle Huxley." Gabrielle was a famous designer in robes for witches and I could see the two chatting to each other. "Gilbert Monroe, right?" I asked, turning to the plump old man. He smiled

"Yes, I believe so," he said. I offered him my hand  
"A pleasure sir, I've heard so much about you," I said.

"From Slughorn?" he asked

"Believe it or not, but I've read your autobiography. You can say I'm a huge fan," I said – not till I knew he was coming to the party I hadn't been. He beamed and I asked him about spell making and he was more than happy to tell me you usually needed to think of what you wanted the spell to do, then find the word in ancient languages, such as latin or Greek and after a few tweaks in pronunciation you had a spell. The hand movements were simply to stabilise the spell. A minister joined us and I was surprised to see Professor Dumbledore here in deep conversation with the Minister of Magic, Millicent Bagnold "Two of the most powerful people in England," Professor Slughorn said when I saw them. "I wonder what they're speaking about," I admitted

"Probably the war," Professor Slughorn said and I turned and smiled at him

"Professor, this is a joyful occasion and practically everyone here's owes something to you! Enjoy it!" he smiled "You're right Ariana, I'll go try the punch," he said and turned and walked off. I scanned the room for the next person I wanted to talk too, when I stopped dead looking at someone in the corner watching me – Allastor Moody. Cleo told me his eye made him see a lot of things normal people couldn't and I was afraid of him seeing the Ketometrix – but Uncle had said it was virtually undetectable. I turned and walked over to the human ambassador for giants and listened to his conversation about the Giants Treaty, but someone pulled my arm and I turned to see James grinning at me "Ariana!" he said and I had to stop myself from groaning "Hey Gordon – this is the girl!" he cried and dragged me to the centre of the party. Gordon Harrison was only fifteen, but his father was a Quidditch star too so he was home schooled. "Gordon Harrison, it's an honour," I said politely while I internally thought of ways to leave the conversation. "Potter here says you're a fan," he said.

"More than I can say for him," I said, "He thought you were going to lose to Spain."  
"That was before I knew of their handicap," James said, shamelessly.  
"Even I have to admit Spain is good," Gordon said.

"Well with an attitude like that of course you're going to lose," I said, coldly. He looked at me surprised "Sorry about that, that's just Ariana's personality," Sirius said, quickly

"Yeah, it's part of her charm, now about English Premier League, is Jones really that good?" James said. They were brushing my comment off because they wanted to talk about one thing – Quidditch. I saw Adolf Goer hide a laugh and I wondered what he was doing here. "What do you think?" I turned to see James asking me. "Pardon?" I asked

"Henry Stars, do you think the Godric Giants made the right choice recruiting him?" he said patiently

"No, they were too hasty, Henry's only been playing two years and though he shoots goals he can barely stay on his broom and that's without the bludger's aiming at him," I said.

"See, I told you she's good," Winter said, pointing me out as if I were his star pupil.

"Fine," Gordon said, "What about Chelsea Charmers against Lionsberg Lions?"

"Chelsea Charmers," I said easily, "Cudberg's injured and the substitute Keeper is terrible."  
"What position do you play?" Gordon asked

"She doesn't play!" James cried as if it were a crime against humanity

"First years don't get drafted," I tried to explain

"That didn't stop me! I still call myself a seeker and I'm not part of the Gryffindor team," he said, "And Sirius' a bludger." Somehow the idea of Sirius batting balls at me in the air made me glad he hadn't made the team. "Yeah," Sirius said, "Surely you play at home."  
"I like chess," I began and the two of them groaned – even Gordon got into the dramatics and laughed at us "Chess is so boring, come on Ariana, you must play a position," James said

"If I had to pick, I'd be the manager," I said.  
"That's not a position," Winter cried, "The Captain's the manager." I sighed

"I'm already part of the duelling club thank you," I said, "That's enough for me."  
"But you have so much potential," Winter cried.

"Even I want you on his team and you'll be versing me!" Roy chimed in.

"I'll think about it," I said shortly

"That's what you said last month," Winter said

"And the month before that," James added.

"Do you think your pro material?" Adolf asked, not bothering to hide the fact he was listening anymore "I don't know, I haven't played Quidditch in years," I admitted.

"Why not?" James asked, "Don't tell me you have a fear of heights."  
"No, I had an accident," I said, shrugging, that was partly true

"What happened?" Sirius asked  
"It's nothing, if it makes you happy I'll get on a broom and see how I go, but don't expect any miracles, it'll take me a while to get used to it again," I said. Truth be told I had never been on a broom much before. I really did like chess as a child, not flying around on a broomstick, but I was Ariana Dumbledore – and in this state I was not going to tell people my weaknesses. I just had to be smart – find a way to blow them off about Quidditch. James led the cheer and the room quietened to see what had happened. "What position will you play?" Winter asked. "What position do you have free?" I asked

"Consider them all free," he said and I had a feeling he'd be happy to fire one of his players

"I guess a Quaffler," I said, I wasn't much aim for Keeper or Bludger and seeker – don't make me laugh. "I'm a Quaffler too," Roy said proudly, "I can't wait to see what you're made of." Oh, prepare to be disappointed, I thought dismally to myself. "I know how hard it can be coming back from an injury," Adolf said, "If you need any pointers I'd be happy to help." To think – here I was developing relations with a Quidditch player when there were hundreds of other people here I actually wanted to connect with. "Thanks, I might actually pick you up on that offer," I admitted and he smiled and handed me his address. I turned to see James and Sirius had left and I excused myself before going to find the ambassador for Goblins, something far more interesting to me and listened to him speak to a Death Eater and Bella. Bella welcomed me into the conversation and I listened intently. From what it seemed the Goblins were willing to side with Voldemort in this battle. I was surprised, goblin's tended to keep to themselves, I wondered how they'd managed to get them to pick a side. "Bloody auror," I heard Bella mutter and I turned to see Allastor Moody close in on us  
"They say that eye of his picks up the Dark Mark, get the hell out of here Bella," I hissed in her ear

"Seems like you lot are plotting something," he said. With Slytherins by my side it was amazing how strong I felt as I turned to him and saw his eye spinning "Typical auror, always coming in with your _assumptions_," I growled.

"I'm sorry I didn't quite catch your name," he said

"Looking for some link with a Death Eater?" I asked him.

"Yes," he said, shortly

"Ariana Dumbledore," I said and he frowned, both his eyes looking at me. I pushed Bella to go and she did walk away with the other's. "Pretty little thing you have on your heart," he said. So he could see it

"I need it to live, got a problem with that?" I asked.

"How so?" he asked.  
"I was attacked as a child and it ripped my heart open. It helps keep everything together," I lied, "Any more questions."  
"You have quite the attitude don't you," he growled

"That's because I've watched my friends and family get questioned over and over again by the aurors over false claims they're Death Eaters," I said.

"It's standard procedure," he said,

"There are rumours going around you're a death eater," I said, eying him, "But I don't see anyone hauling you in for questioning." I expected him to angry, but instead he smiled  
"I would like to see someone try to bring me in for questioning," he said and his eyes looked down at my chest "How exactly does it keep your heart together?" he asked, but suddenly somebody groaned. I turned to see a vampire turning into – well a donkey. I scanned the room and saw Potter and Sirius giggling amongst themselves "I do hope you haven't tried the punch," I said, dryly, glad I hadn't either as the Ravenclaw Captain turned into a bunny. "This prank is brought to you – by the MARAUDERS!" Sirius and James said in unison, standing on a table.  
"Your face is red," Cleo whispered, coming back to my side. I could almost feel a vein pop – I needed this night! Why the heck were they ruining it for me. Here I was trying to make a bright future for myself and BAM they destroyed it just for a bit of fun "Let's get out of here before I ask Slughorn how to perform the Killing Curse," I whispered back to her and she agreed and found Yelena and the three of us walked out of the party.

I pulled the shoes off my feet and lay onto my bed and groaned, they hurt badly "How was it for you guys?" I asked.

"Amazing, I met so many designers Ariana, they give me heaps of designs for winter clothes," she said, "I'm so excited to make them."  
"I spent the night talking to a few property investors, fascinating stuff," she said.

"Have you got enough money to invest in property?" I asked her. She smiled

"My family does," she said, "I don't know how willing they'd be to give it to me though."

"Well it was going smoothly till that stupid prank," I said, changing out of my dress and putting my pyjamas on "If I didn't need them so much I would have permanently turned them into two rats," I growled. "Give it time Ariana," Cleo sighed, crawling into bed, "You'll get your chance." I lay in my bed and sighed, this was why I hated being dependant on people.

…

Christmas Holidays came and I was to spend it with Alexander in Russia till my first fight. Cleo and Yelena were going to go home for the break. We blew each other ridiculous air kisses at the station as we made to depart. One plus to the holiday's was that Sirius was going to spend it at Hogwarts which meant he wouldn't be there when I spent the night at the House of Black. My two friends caught the train while I went over to Hogsmead. I had told Uncle Abe I would be spending the Christmas break at Hogwarts to catch up on homework and he'd readily agreed because the amount of Death Eater's in his bar had tripled. An arm grabbed me and I turned to see Uncle in the shadows "Ready to go?" he asked. I nodded and took a quick look at the Hog's Head before grabbing my pendant and teleporting to Alexander's cabin. He was happy to see me and checked my progress, happy with my advancements. For this entire break, Alexander told me I'd be fighting him. For the first two weeks, I was completely covered in bruises, even though I'd win sometimes, Alexander was as ruthless as the other street fighters and he used a lot of illegal attacks. I learnt to instinctively block them when they came to me and fight back "Good," he would say and at night when Uncle sat down to have tea with him, I'd grab the kitchen knives and use his dart board to practice my aim. For the last week of practice Alexander grabbed a thick chain "We'll teach you how to fight against weapons now," he said which resulted in him lashing it out and me dodging it. If I thought I'd gotten hurt from the previous last two weeks, I was wrong. Two days before the tournament, Uncle came in and had to heal my whole body "Doesn't this take some of my life away?" I asked him. He shrugged

"DIdn't harm me," he said and sat next to me "I didn't think you'd work so hard Ariana, I'm proud of how far you've come. I think you have a real shot at this fight."  
"I'm desperate. I want to avenge my family," I told him,

"Well you will eventually. You should relax these last two days," he said. I shook my head

"No, I'll work hard till the end," I said, "You shouldn't underestimate these fights. They may be easy for you, but they certainly aren't for me."

"Suit yourself, I'm going to bed," he said and turned and walked off. I looked at the harsh coldness outside of Siberia before turning and going to bed too.

* * *

_Thank you for your reviews Kelly Pearl and Diamond of the Night - I loved your review! And for character weaknesses when she's in her normal state she has physical weaknesses, but when she's at Hogwarts, her weaknesses are all mental (you may see that as the chapters progress!)_

_I hope you enjoy this chapter and tune in next time for Ariana's first fight as well as the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black_


	11. Chapter 11

The last two days I spent fighting Alexander who wielded all sorts of weapons. Knives, maces, rapiers. I won most of them, but it unnerved me that I could still lose, but before I could ask Uncle for extra time, the night of my fight came. I got dressed in a pair of comfortable shorts and a shirt and tied my hair up into a tight ponytail. "Thanks Alexander, for everything," I said to him. He smiled

"It's a pleasure to work with someone so motivated," he said as Uncle and I teleported over to Shanghai and got into a taxi "Make it an easy fight," I begged him

"Ariana, I can't do that. You need to learn to make the most of your time. If you lose, it's your fault," he said. "Please Uncle, I'll die – what happens if they stomp on my heart?" I asked

"Then you're dead," he said, emotionlessly. I paled

"If I knew I'd die so young I would have done more with my life," I muttered, but I thought of my family waiting for me.

We got to the car lot and saw the crowd again. Chen was there with a different girl on his arm "Mr Choi!" he cried, "You told me you've got an opponent for Ricky."  
"Katie," he said, showing me. He frowned

"I wanted more of a fight," Chen said eying me

"It's entertainment," he said, shrugging. Chen was about to say something but Uncle stopped him "IF you lose money, I'll jump in the ring for the next fight." That was too good of an opportunity for him and he agreed. Uncle left in the crowd and Chen turned to me "Sorry kid, I don't know what you did to piss that guy off, but this business," he said. I took a deep breath and went to follow Uncle.

"Who's Ricky?" I asked  
"Lucky for you he's an easy opponent, but he's a bit savage," Uncle said. I sighed, so I wouldn't be up against a difficult person. Chen called for order and everyone circled around the ring. Uncle pulled me in the front as Chen called my name and people laughed at the little girl they saw. Ricky on the other hand looked to be a lean, mean fighter. He roared and the crowd cheered. He didn't seem like he'd hesitate to hit a little girl like me. I took a deep breath "Remember, you need that desperation to survive," Uncle told me and I immediately thought of my family, who all would want me to live. I had to do it for them. I got into ready position "Get Ready! FIGHT!" Chen called and Ricky raced up to me and spun a kick. I rolled out of the way and swung my leg out while I was doing it and swept his legs. He fell to the floor and I jumped onto him and landed a punch on his face, but he bit my leg and I jumped away, looking down to see blood mixed with saliva. I looked up to see him grinning as he wiped his mouth and raced up to me again, swinging a punch, which I blocked with a kick before swinging my own punch which he blocked with his arm. He kicked me and I grabbed his leg and swung my own foot and it hit him square in the jaw. He fell back and I got back into ready mode, waiting for him to hit me. He jumped up and someone threw him a chain and I frowned. He looked like a rabid animals as he spun the chain around his head and threw it at me. I rolled out of the way and looked around and found nothing but a concrete column that supported the car lot near me. This time Ricky increased the amount of chain he was swinging. When he whipped it out at me. I ran up the column leapt over his head and landed behind him. I jumped onto his back and kicked him hard in the back and he fell over. I raced up and tried to kick him, but he swung his leg out and I tripped. I fell on my back and he was on me. He punched me hard and I winced as my head began to swim, but I kicked my knee into the part of his back I'd already hurt and he winced, giving me a nanosecond to get out from underneath him and kick him in the side. He fell back and I jumped on him and punched him over and over again. He grabbed something out of his pocket, a knife and I wrestled it out of his hand and threw it aside before getting onto my feet and wedging my right knee into his solar plexus. He gasped and I grabbed his arm and twisted it, till he finally tapped. I gasped when he did and fell back, exhausted as the crowd engulfed me and lifted me above their heads. I saw stars as I was lowered into a car and I felt somebody fanning me. When she did that, I felt myself regain consciousness and the pain in my cheek subsided. She brushed her hand over the hand I'd used to wrestled the knife out of and I realised it was bleeding, but when she touched it, the bleeding stopped. I looked up to see Kyla smiling at me "What a good fight," she said. "Thanks," I said as I got up and tested myself to see that I was perfectly fine

"No problem," she said, "Healing magic is my speciality."  
"That's really cool," I said, "I wish I could heal people."  
"You can," she said and I shrugged

"I don't know many spells," I admitted

"All in time, my dear," she said, softly, "If you ever need healing come to me okay?" I nodded and thanked her once more before going to find Uncle who was getting paid out by Chen. "Sorry about that," I said to Chen, expecting him to be upset, but I saw a huge grin on his face  
"Don't be," Uncle said, "Everyone betted against you, he got paid out more than what he'd earn in a month."  
"You should come by more often," he said, pointing to me, "Savage little thing aren't you."  
"Maybe next time I can fight your strongest opponent," I told him. He frowned

"Ricky was our strongest fighter," he said and I turned to Uncle who smiled

"It's a lesson Ariana, always be confident in yourself. If you think you can't do it, you won't be able to," he said, "Always believe in yourself." I would have been angry at him if it weren't for the fact I'd just won.

As we walked down the streets of the red light district Uncle handed me a very thick wad of cash "What's this?" I asked

"Your winnings, they're all yours," he said. I looked at the wad – that could last me a life time! "Better pocket it before someone stabs you for it." I did as I was told and put it in a bag I had. He didn't speak much as we teleported back to Hogsmead and I showered and got dressed to go to the House of Black. "Merry Christmas Uncle," I said to him and he smiled and hugged me

"Merry Christmas," he said and helped me apparate to number 12 Grimmauld Place, London. It was late afternoon here "Take care okay? I've got some business to attend to, but you can make it back to Hogsmead on your own right?"  
"Yes," I said. He kissed me on the forehead and I finally went over to the black door that had 12 written on it and knocked. The door opened and a familiar face smiled at me – Kreacher the Black Family's house elf "Miss Westwood," he said surprised and I bent down and hugged him  
"Oh Kreacher, how are you?" I asked him. Regulus had always hung back with Kreacher, too shy to speak to us unless Sirius was there back at our house. "Good miss, come in, the Master is waiting for you," he said and I went into the entrance. Familiarity hit me as I remembered holding my mother's hand while coming here. "Come right in Miss Westwood, come right in," he called cheerfully, pulling on the edge of my dress like a child. I followed him along a hall and came out in the main foyer with the staircase to my right. Photos of Black's were all over it. "Master Orion, Mistress Walberga!" Kreacher called while I looked around in awe. I smiled when I saw the troll leg umbrella stand. I'd stumped my toe on that many a time. "Adeline?" I turned to see Orion smiling at me and immediately he pulled me in and embraced me "How are you, oh gosh, you're skinny," he said, surveying me  
"I'm fine Uncle," I said, "This place, it's so full of fond memories."  
"Oh my beautiful little girl," he said pulling me in "You must forgive me for not looking for you before."  
"I'm glad you didn't, I'm afraid to hear of what they would have done to you if you'd found me," I said "Nonsense dear, come in, you must be famished. The entire family's here," he said and pulled me over to the main dining hall. True enough, it was filled with people all of which where happy to see me. "Adeline, my dear," Walberga said and I went up to her and she threw her arms around me which was uncharacteristic of her. Bellatrix's mother hugged me as well and her father did so too. The Malfoy's hugged me and soon I was been passed all around. It made me feel so at home. "Adeline!" I turned to see Regulus Black grinning at me, "I'm so glad you're alive!" He looked like Sirius but he was slighter than him and he didn't have that mischief glint in his eyes, instead he had a softness to them. I couldn't stop myself, I threw my arms around him and he laughed "I thought you'd forgotten about me," I cried to my childhood friend

"How could I?" he asked, "I cried for three weeks straight when I found out what had happened to you. I still have your picture in my room." I smiled warmly, surprised I was missed so much not because of my family ties, but simply because someone cared for me. I turned in time to see Walberga grinning at Orion, sending him a hidden message that was lost on me. "Come on I'll show you the photo's!" Regulus said

"Not so fast," Orion laughed, "Adeline needs to eat." I was made the guest of honour and rich foods were passed to me and I ate them gratefully. "So dear, tell us what happened so far with you," Bellatrix's mother said. So I launched into my story and the woman gasped at it

"I can't believe Howard would be killed," Orion said, shaking his head, "He lived by the book."  
"Bloody aurors," Bella's mother hissed, "You know Lord Voldemort will exterminate them all." I turned to see Regulus frowning "I didn't think aurors would go that far – killing innocent people," he said. "They're a bunch of filthy mudbloods or muggle lovers, dear," Walberga told her son, "Now if you two are finished, why don't you show Adeline to her room." Regulus eagerly got off his seat and I followed him out of the dining hall and up a couple of flights to a room. My room was so grand and I could remember having a room like this once before as a child. I saw a desk with books on it and posters of Quidditch players everywhere "This looks – lived in," I said, turning to him. He smiled

"It's my room," he explained as he took a photo album out and handed it to me before plucking a couple of photo's off the mantle above his fireplace and sitting on the bed and I sat with him. He showed me a picture of me and him when I was six and he was five, with my dad and siblings going fishing. "I remember that," I said, holding the photo, "Sirius was jealous because we'd caught a bigger fish and had stormed off right?" Regulus smiled and handed me another one. This one was of my mother smiling softly and hugging me, Regulus, Sirius and Evan Rosier were there as children. Tears began to well in my eyes "I'm so sorry Adel, I didn't mean to make you cry!" Regulus said alarmed. I buried my head into his shoulder and couldn't stop myself from crying at the loneliness I felt without them "Why did they have to go?" I cried and he stroked my back  
"I know it's hard Adel, but I'm really happy knowing you lived," he said and I forced myself to wipe my tears away. He held onto my hand "Adeline, I'll become a Death Eater," he said, "I'll get rid of the aurors who did this to your family." I shook my head  
"I don't want you becoming a Death Eater Reg, they'll just kill you too and then what will I have?" I asked. He frowned, but didn't seem convinced. He opened the photo album and I saw pictures of us smiling and waving and my parents still looking at each other with the love they had when they were alive. There was a picture of my dad pulling a funny face behind a young Lucius Malfoy and my mother smiling and waving at me with Bella, Narcissa, Andromeda, Hazel and me, with my dad jumping in the background with baby Lucy in his arms. Marcel was in most of them, grinning madly with one arm around Sirius and the other around Regulus – the three of them being inseparable. Actually, as we went on Marcel and Sirius were in a lot of them and they were usually with Regulus either on fishing trips or flying. Marcel loved Quidditch. "You can have the album if you want," Regulus said.

"I've got nowhere to put it Reg, besides, it's safer with you." He looked at the picture of my brother and turned to me

"Is – could – Marcel," he said slowly and I shook my head

"I saw his body Reg, he's definitely gone," I said. He nodded

"I'm still glad you're alive," he said.  
"Master Regulus!" Kreacher called, "Mistress Caroline wishes to speak to you." Regulus groaned, but got up "She always pinches my cheeks," he said, "Come on, the girls are sitting in the kitchen." He led me to the kitchen where the three Black sister's were sitting; Bella, Narcissa and Andromeda. Bella looked annoyed as she watched a potato peel itself "What's wrong?" I asked and she turned to see me "Rodolphus Lestrange," she answered

"I don't understand," I said as I sat by the sisters  
"She's Bella's fiancé," Andromeda replied, "Bella I think it's preposterous, you should marry for love. If you want to call the wedding off tell me, I'll be more than happy to support you."  
"I don't want to call the wedding off," she answered, "I'll marry him, he's a pure blood and he's a Death Eater, he's a perfect match for me."  
"But you don't even love him," Andromeda said

"Love is for idiots," Bella said, "Marriage is just something you have to do." I hadn't spoken to Andromeda much, she was in Hufflepuff and a year older than me "Like you have to marry Sirius," Narcissa said. Before I could stop myself I turned to Andromeda "You poor thing!" I cried. Narcissa burst into giggles and Bella grinned "Your one to talk," she said, "Aunt Wal wants you to marry Regulus. That's why she's so fond of you." Really? Was I supposed to marry Regulus? I shrugged, I didn't quite understand marriage, but if it was the price to pay for being in the Black Family, that reminded me so much of my old family then so be it.

"Yeah, but I like Regulus," I said and Bella grinned

"You're a cute little thing," she said and ruffled my hair.  
"But Adel, don't you feel – weird," Andromeda said, "I mean you've only just met him after three years."  
"Regulus will never change," I said, smiling, "Besides, Orion said he'll look after me. I trust him not to marry me off to a bad person. If he wants me to marry Regulus it's in my best interests then."

"Right you are Adeline," Bella agreed, "See Annie, even Adel knows it and she's 10."  
"Eleven," I corrected and Bella smiled. Andromeda didn't seem satisfied at all and she seemed deep in thought "Cissy's a bit like you," Bella continued, "She's fancied Lucius for a while now."  
"Bella!" Narcissa cried and Bella smirked

"I like him too," I agreed, "he always takes care of the first years."  
"He's kind isn't he," Cissa agreed looking like she was day dreaming and Bella snorted

"Hey girls," I turned to see Regulus had entered the kitchen and came right up to me. Bella smirked and I turned red a bit. Spending the rest of my life playing with Regulus seemed like fun, but I was worried about him. I pressed against the Kilometrix and wondered if I could live a normal life. "What's wrong Annie, you seem sad?" Reg said, picking up her emotions immediately

"She's just upset her fiancé couldn't be here," Bella teased and Regulus blushed for her

"Thank goodness he isn't here," I blurted out.  
"Why? Don't you like him?" Regulus asked, surprised.

"The idiot doesn't remember her," Bella said.  
"Really? I always thought you were closer to Sirius then me," Regulus said.

"I guess he doesn't really look at who he's hexing," I muttered under my breath, but Regulus heard it

"He hexed you?" he asked, his face slowly turning red in anger

"It was nothing Regulus really, I've figured out a way to protect myself," I said

"I knew he hated pure bloods, but I can't believe he's hexing them!" Regulus cried, "I'm sending him a letter right now!" I grabbed his hand as he turned  
"Regulus, he hasn't hexed me in months, I've figured out how to protect myself," I said.

"It's true, she's got the first year's under her complete control. I'm thoroughly impressed," Bella said, happily munching on a piece of apple strudel Kreacher gave her. "I don't understand," he said. I sighed "Wait here," I said and went into the pantry to use the Kitometrix and came back out

"What are you looking at Black?" I said in a condescending tone.  
"Of course! Ariana and Ariana!" Narcissa cried  
"That's what I said," Bella laughed. Regulus looked at me in surprise

"So – you look different?" he said, confused

"For girls, being mean is the way to go Reg," I said, "I pretend to be this perfect girl and nobody dares touch me."  
"So you're like this during all of Hogwarts?" he asked

"Unfortunately," I admitted, "Sirius thinks Adeline is different to Ariana, even though he calls Adeline Ariana."  
"That's – confusing," Regulus said

"She's prettier and meaner that way," Bella explained, "It makes all the first year Slytherin's swoon over her."  
"And when this year ends I'll be the new Queen of Slytherin," I said, smoothly, "After Bella graduates."

"Hogwarts is so beneath me Adel dear, soon I'll be Lord Voldemort's right hand woman," she said. I shrugged and went back into the cupboard and changed back "Remember Regulus, Sirius thinks we're two people," I told him, "And I'd like to keep it that way." He sighed

"If you say so," he said, "But for the record you're still pretty like this."  
"Aw!" Cissa cried and I smiled  
"Thanks Reg," I said and Bella lifted her eyebrows suggestively, but I rolled my eyes.

Being with the Blacks was like going back in time and having my family around me. I half expected Callum to appear out of nowhere and challenge me to a chess match or Marcel to come and drag Regulus away to show him new Quidditch cards my grandfather had bought him. Regulus finally showed me to a room that had been a guest bedroom previously, but now was covered in rose wallpaper and had a grand four poster bed in the centre of it with a big space to the other side with a white vanity table and a huge armoire. The painting's weren't of people, but of pegusus' and nymph's who were dancing around and waving at me "Welcome to your new bedroom Adeline!" one of the nymph's cried. "Really? This is mine?" I asked.

"Do you like it?" I turned to see Uncle Orion smiling at me  
"I love it!" I cried as I looked around  
"Well it's yours if you want to live here for the school break," he said. I turned to him

"You're trying to bribe me aren't you?" I asked, suspiciously. He grinned and shrugged  
"Maybe," he said. I hugged him tightly

"I'll try and visit as often as I can – and I'll make you proud Uncle Orion. I will!" I promised. He laughed "I'm just glad you're okay," he said and hugged me "Goodnight Adeline." I breathed in deeply and for second, it was like I was hugging my dad again "I love you daddy," I blurted out before I could stop myself. I pulled away, worried but Orion smiled "I love you too Adeline, now you'd better get to bed," he said. I smiled, grateful he didn't bother pressing the matter  
"Goodnight Reg," I said  
"Night Adel," he said, "Don't lock your door, I'll be waking you up for present time tomorrow, _nice _and early." I grinned and put on my white dressing gown and climbed into bed. It was so soft and warm that I immediately went to sleep.

I felt something nudge me softly "Adeline!" I heard someone whisper. I rolled away from him and hugged myself "Adeline!" I shot up out of bed, half expecting an auror to be there holding a wand, but instead, I was greeted by a grinning Regulus and a house elf bouncing on my bed "Hurry, the presents!" he cried. I realised it was Christmas. I shot out of bed and raced with Regulus down the stairs and Kreacher apparated to the giant tree on the ground floor. There was a huge pile for Regulus and I eagerly watched him open his gifts. They were books from all over the world teaching him the Dark Arts all the way to Potion making. There were robes from him grandparents – and a broom! I looked at it in awe, the Nimbus 1995. It was a brand new model and I looked at its sleek handle "That is so cool!" I cried.

"Should I try it out," Regulus asked, his own eyes wide

"No way! Not in the house," I laughed. I turned to see Kreacher happily picking up the pieces of ripped wrapping around us. "Kreacher, this is for you," I turned to see a small bundle which he handed to Kreacher. He took it and opened it to find a snow globe in there and it was like Regulus had electrocuted him. He bounced up and down, cheerfully shaking the snow globe over and over again "Thank you master, this is the best present I could have ever asked for! Oh master, thank you, thank you, thank you," he cried and Regulus grinned at his house elf

"You should go put it with your other ones," he said and Kreacher bounced away, grinning madly. Regulus laughed "I have no idea why he's so fond of those," he said, shrugging. I grinned

"That was really nice of you," I said. Nobody but Lucy had ever given our house elf a present – you just didn't think of it. "You two are making the biggest racket in the world," Lucius laughed coming down the stairs "You've woken half the household."

"Sorry, I was opening my presents," Regulus said sheepishly.  
"Heya kids!" Andromeda jumped down the stairs and past a surprised Lucius "Oh, gifts."  
"You really need to stop acting like such a child Annie," Lucius muttered as I looked up the stairs to see a whole hoard of people rushing down the stairs "See Adel, this is why we had to wake up early," Regulus said and I laughed as we were bombarded with people around the tree. "Handy Uncle Artie!" Bella cried as she put on a leather cuff around her wrist which covered the Dark Mark and the man laughed "I had a bit of trouble when I first got mine," he said.

"Adel this is yours!" Regulus said and handed me a present. I looked at it in surprise but opened it to find a framed photo of my parents and siblings goofing around and it seemed Regulus had accidentally walked in front of the camera cause he was there too, laughing at us. I held it close to me "I know you can't take it outside," Regulus said, "But you can have it in your room, right?"

"Thank you," I said, my lower lip trembling, "This is – the best present you could have given me." He smiled warmly and I looked at him carefully, I loved it when he smiled because it was always so genuine. It was hard to hate Regulus Black. I sat there staring at the photo as the rest of the family got their gifts sorted. "You know Ariana, the photo frame wasn't all you got," Orion said, dressed in his pyjamas and Walberga looked at him distastefully, fully dressed herself. "We didn't forget you – your gifts are over there." I was surprised to see a rather sizable pile over there

"Um, the room was kind of enough," I said, blushing

"Well you've certainly changed over the years," Bella said, "Whenever anyone came back from a trip you'd be expecting something out of our pockets."  
"Yeah, sweets!" I cried and Bella shrugged

"I'm dying of anticipation Adel, you can either open the presents or I'll do it for you," she said.

"Alright," I said leaning over eagerly at the wrapped goods – I loved opening wrapping. I chose the biggest one and ripped it open and sat there frozen "I heard you yapping on about Quidditch in the Christmas Party and I didn't think you had one," Bella said, "So I told Uncle Orion." An identical broom to Regulus' lay in front of me "I like Quidditch Bella – but I was lying! I can't play!" I cried. For some reason everyone burst into laughter at this and I hugged Uncle Orion before sitting back down "Thank you," I said, earnestly, though with this in Hogwarts I no longer had any excuse to not play Quidditch.

"My present next," Bella said impatiently and she charmed a floppy gift into my arms

"Bella you always have to be centre of attention don't you?" Regulus said, smirking at his cousin, who gave him a pointed glare as I opened it. It was a new nightgown made of soft material and lace "It's beautiful Bella – and practical," I said.  
"Your other one's – disgusting," she said, ungraciously. I hugged her and pulled in my next one and opened it to find a whole set of volumes on Charms and Spells from the Malfoy's and more clothes and hair ribbons from Cissa and Annie. From the Lestrange's I'd received two dolls, which you could speak to and the other would say it out loud. It was a two way communication system and was incredibly useful. I decided to put them both away when Regulus snatched one "I'm taking one," he declared, "That way we can speak all the time, even when I'm not in Hogwarts." I couldn't help but let him have it "Take it everywhere you go, okay?" he asked and I scoffed

"I'm not walking around school with a doll in my hands," I cried and he laughed

"Fine," he said. I got more books and a trunk which would be incredibly useful and a few Quidditch guides which I told myself to read meticulously. By the end of it all, I hadn't realised it, but I was crying. Orion wrapped me up in his arms and hugged me tightly "You brave little thing, you have a family again," he said and I couldn't help but sob again. I hadn't been careful because he pulled away quickly and frowned "Adeline, there's something hard on your chest," he said, frowning.

"It's my pendant," I said, showing him the globe. He pulled the nightgown's neckline down and saw the compass "What in Merlin's name _is_ that?" he asked. I had to think quickly

"The auror's they pierced my heart," I lied quickly, "That night, the robbers gave it to me to my heart up so I would live." Orion looked at in horror "We can fix it up – I can take you to St Mungo's," he said, but I pulled him to stop from getting up "If they touch it, my heart will rip and I'll die from the bleeding before they can even think of the right spell to say," I said, "It's too late Uncle Orion. I have to have it with me for the rest of my life." Even some of the Death Eater's looked at me with sympathy and disgust at the abuse I'd gotten. "I'm glad the Dark Lord's gotten into power," Uncle Orion said as he stood, "So he can wipe the bastards out." I turned to see Regulus had paled and I squeezed his hand

"It's alright, I'm not going to die," I said, "It's just a door of sorts, keeping everything closed inside." He nodded slowly, looking at me as if I were as fragile as a china doll now.

The sympathy changed back into joy as we all went to the music room and Annie, who was a very good singer began singing Christmas Carol's. I pulled Regulus aside and forced him to teach me more about flying. "I know the basics," I said, "UP!" and the broom shot up into my hand and I climbed onto it  
"You just have to shift your weight Adel, remember?" he asked, "And if you want to go up and down, you'll need to move the handle up and down to gain or lose height." I jumped off the ground and tried to slowly rise, but this broom was new and much more responsive then the one's in Hogwarts and I shot into the sky "ADELINE!" Reg cried and he flew up to meet me, grabbing the end of my broom before I crashed into a painting of his relative "No flying in the house!" Cygnus Black cried from below "Adeline, maybe you should just stick with _watching_ Quidditch," Regulus said, "What happens if you hurt your heart?"

"It's pretty sturdy," I assured him as he helped me lower back onto the ground "I barely remember flying," I admitted

"That's because you'd sit and watch," he said, "Marcel and Hazel were the flyer's."

"I really want to learn," I said and he sighed

"Just – wait till I get to Hogwarts okay?" he asked.

"We'll see," I muttered, jumping off my broom and heading to the dining area where everyone was getting ready to eat.

It was a merry night and by the morning, I didn't want to leave. This place reminded me of home. I had filled my new trunk with all the things the family had given me, except for the photo that was on my side table. My parents were waving me goodbye and Lucy was crying. "You're coming back for the school holiday's right?" Regulus asked

"I might," I said, "The Hog's Head is crawling with auror's apparently." I was in the dinning hall eating breakfast "Is that so?" Rodolphus Lestrange's father asked. It was common knowledge he was one of the first Death Eater's ever. "If you come in, I'm more than happy to point them out to you," I said, "We can't get rid of them without the ministry thinking Uncle Abe and I are Death Eaters too and they do like to prey on the weak."  
"Might spread the word," he said, thoughtfully,

"There are plenty of dark alley's in Hogsmead – if you want to get rid of them," I said.  
"It's Albus Dumbledore's territory dear," he said, "I may be a strong wizard, but I'm not that strong. We'll do nothing till the Dark Lord instructs us to in that area."  
"It is a strategic meeting place," Abraxas Malfoy said as he sat down, "So close to the school. The Dark Lord's been meaning to get his hands on the school for a while." Suddenly my mind began to wonder in dangerous places "I wonder what school would be like if he was headmaster," I said aloud and Abraxas laughed and ruffled my hair "Slytherin would be at the top," he said and I grinned

"That sounds kind of nice," I admitted, "The Gryffindor's could be our servants – and you guys could be our teachers!" Causing Lucius who had just walked in to laugh at me

"With the sound of your ideas, it seems you want to be Headmaster," he chuckled. I shrugged as I got off my stool "No way, I want it to be sooner than that," I said, "While I'm still in school." The idea of Sirius Black and James Potter begging me to throw them some scraps appealed to me and turned my thoughts dark momentarily.

Fare wells were said at the door and Regulus hugged me tightly while Orion made me promise to at least visit once a week if I wasn't going to live at his house during school break. Abraxas drove me to Kings Cross station and I got to platform 9 ¾ and when I knew there was nobody watching, used my necklace to get to Hogsmead and my Uncle's apartment.

"You're late," he called when I came in

"Hello to you too," I said, sarcastically.

"I thought you'd only stay for a night," he said

"The big pureblood family's were all there," I said, "And they found out about the kitometrix." Uncle stiffened and I hastily told him the story. He sighed and sat on the couch "Well this is great," he muttered. He seemed annoyed, but not as angry as I expected him to be "You aren't – mad?" I dared to venture. He looked at me and he sighed, his face softening "There are a few things about the kitometrix that I haven't told you about," he said, slowly

"Like what?" I asked, suspiciously

"Ariana, when you die – all memory that you ever lived will be – _gone_," he said slowly. I froze

"What?" I gasped

"It's to protect the magic – or else everyone would have known about the device," he said. Everything seemed to move around me, crushing me. The friends I'd made, the family that I'd made for myself would forget about me – I simply would cease to exist? "I-I don't want it anymore!" I cried, "TAKE IT OUT!"

"You know that's not possible anymore," he said, slowly

"I don't want it anymore!" I shrieked and I began clawing at it, but Uncle came over and grasped my hands. I struggled to get away from him, before sobbing where I stood. "Ariana, listen to me. The Blacks took you in because you're the last remaining Westwood, Regulus cares for you because you're his ex-best friend's sister, nobody at school remembered you till you got the ketometrix and Abeforth only sees you as a replacement for his sister. You were nothing till you got it so it's only fitting you _will_ be nothing when it's gone," he said. I didn't struggle because he was right. I had really died the day my family had been taken from me. I straightened up slowly but couldn't stop the tears "Well, even if they don't remember me, I want to make a difference in this world," I said, "So when do we start training?" Sympathy was written in his face "Tomorrow," he said, "Get some rest."


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter

I began finding it hard to sleep at night. Uncle had abandoned me in the days after Christmas that were left before going back to Hogwarts. Even with this stupid thing on my heart, I was still lonely. Uncle said he treated me like family, but what family dumped a person in the streets of Italy with strangers? "Girl," I looked up to see an elderly woman hand me a bowl of stew. I took it gratefully and chewed on it absentmindedly. I was in Sicily, a very beautiful city in Italy, but it was filled the mafia. Right now, I was in a compound that was run by a group of assassins called the Midnight Dagger. I was supposed to learn stealth from these people, but looking at the situation I was in I could not help but wonder what my Uncle was really training me for. Surely, my own vendetta wasn't any concern to him. I sighed and lay on the cot I was in and missed Uncle Abe. He wasn't much family either, but at least he cared enough for me to treat me like a normal witch. Maybe the muggle life wasn't so bad – giving up magic and living a simple life. "Girl, we have an assignment, get ready in five minutes," an elderly man growled at me. I shot up and began changing. The Midnight Dagger was run by muggle's and they had no problem shooting whole families for a pay check – so no, the muggle life was just as bad. Nobody cared much that an eleven year old girl was in their midst either – heck, the sons of this family were eight when they began preparing to kill.

I walked silently around a square, pretending to be a tourist with my 'father' next to me. I pretended to be very interested with a sign. The trick was not to stand out and not to play the role of 'tourist' so much that it drew attention. Now the game would begin. X, my mentor, who was pretending to be my father would allow me to go up to the man, who was another assassin and I would strike a conversation with him, but I had to make sure he would not realise that I was anything but a tourist. He had initially wanted me to lure him out onto an empty street but I would play no part in his death. My conscious was already dark enough as it was, so reluctantly he agreed that I should leave and then I would let X continue on with his business. As I watched a sleek looking man eat a plate of lasagne at a fancy looking restaurant, I continuously told myself that this man was evil – he deserved to die. I mean, he was an assassin, he would kill countless other families - like mine if he wasn't killed first – that he'd brought it upon himself with the profession he chose, but there was something nagging inside of me, telling me that I should not be here, but where would I run to? Maybe years after this, I would be strong enough to run away from everything and everyone. Perhaps start a new life? But it was never that simple. "Go," the man said and I automatically began walking into the shadows of the neighbouring buildings. When I came out, I was a beautiful Italian woman with silky, wavy black hair that bellowed down my back as well green eyes with full lips. As Adeline, I would never dream of walking into a restaurant this fancy and talking to a complete stranger, but as a persona, I felt I could do anything. The time it took to get to the restaurant was the time I needed to adjust to the fact I was much higher off the ground then before with my long, adult legs. Thankfully, the assassin was sitting quite close to the bar. I slunk onto the seat behind him and ordered – whiskey. I wondered whether muggle whiskey was like firewhiskey at the Hogs Head. I took the glass but didn't bother drinking it as I turned and scanned the room. There was a live band playing soft music and couples were dancing. Last night I had had a similar mission of talking to someone – it had ended up with me slammed onto the ground with the wind knocked out of me and the man had run away, only to have X run after him and – finish him off. A man came up to me "What is a beautiful lady like yourself doing all alone at the bar?" he asked, his sentence was slightly slurred which made me assume he was drunk. "Er – I'm not alone," I said, and an idea formed in my head. I got up and glided over to the assassin "This is my boyfriend," I said and sat next to him.  
"Is that so?" the drunk man asked, unconvinced. I looked pleadingly at the man and he turned around "I would appreciate it if you did not woo my girlfriend," he said, playing along. I glared at the drunken man who sauntered off before smiling dazzlingly to the assassin "Thank you so much," I said, "I hate the fact I can never be left alone at a bar."

"Well when you dress to look as lovely as that, I have to say that maybe you are asking for it," he said. It seemed like it was meant to be a compliment, but he said it coldly, and I knew he really thought I was asking to be attacked. I smirked at him "Maybe I am trying to woo the right guy," I said. It was incredibly hard for me to be seductive. I was eleven for goodness sake and on top of that, I didn't need to woo anybody! I had a fiancé already in Regulus and I doubted he needed to be seduced. I pushed the thought away and focused on the task at hand. I looked at him up and down, he was incredibly neat and tidy. His suit was perfectly tailored and the creases were ironed to perfection. Even his beard was well groomed as was his hair – and the way he held his knife and fork "You're very neat," I admitted, "Do you have a wife at home – or are you just a perfectionist?" Most assassins were, they had to be to make sure they didn't leave any clues behind. "What is it you want from me?" he asked, putting his fork down. This was the part that had gotten me almost killed last time. I couldn't hesitate in my replies. "I saw you from the bar," I explained, "Neat, well-groomed – an air of mystery. I want to know if you're as good on the inside as you look on the out." I smirked at him, "Because then maybe you are the guy I'm looking for." He looked at my face, as if calculating whether I was telling the truth or not, before picking up his fork and continuing to eat "You seem more like the one-night stand kind of girl," he answered and I laughed

"You're awfully straight forward," I said, "And believe it or not I'm looking to settle down." On the inside I was cheering at the fact I wasn't flat on my face right now from being knocked over by him  
"Well I am more of the one-night stand kind of man," he said. I tried not to shudder in disgust

"That's a pity," I admitted, "Because you look like the type of guy who is eager to settle."  
"Looks can be deceiving," he said and I almost laughed at his corny line. Men were so funny when they were trying to pick up beautiful women. I took out a card and scribbled down the number of a refrigerator service I knew near the compound "This is my number," I lied, "Use it if you start thinking about a serious relationship." Now time to exit. I got up, but he grabbed my hand. Of my gosh, he was going to kill me, I thought to myself, but I forced myself to calm and turned to look at him "Girls who want serious relationships shouldn't be hanging around at a bar waiting for men to speak to them," he said. Calm down, he doesn't suspect you, I thought to myself  
"Then tell me where I should look for a serious relationships?" I asked him. For a moment, he was at a loss himself and I smiled "See? Just enjoy your dinner-"

"Maybe I _am_ looking to settle," he said. DANG! I screamed in my head. I had no choice but to sit back down. "Maybe find a new job," he said to himself. No, don't sympathise, don't sympathise, don't sympathise, I cried in my head. He's lying! He'd do anything to have you, he's lying, he'll kill many more people if he doesn't die. "What type of job do you do?" I asked him, casually. He was so good that he didn't even blink when he said, "I work in IT."  
"Oh, is it that bad?" I asked. He studied my face  
"Why did you think I did something different?" he asked

"Honestly? I didn't think IT workers were one-night stand kind of people," I laughed, "What's stopping you from settling down?"  
"I move around a lot," he said, smoothly and I nodded my head

"I didn't think about that," I said, "It must be a big company."  
"Fairly successful," he shrugged

"What kind of job were you looking to change into?" I asked. He shrugged  
"What do you do?" he asked and I smiled

"A receptionist," I said – glad I'd thought of that on the spot.  
"For what?" he asked, he was good, trying to keep the questions on me, but I needed to escape

"A doctor's surgery," I said, "It really isn't interesting at all."  
"No, I am interested, tell me more," he said and I laughed  
"Are you sure you're a one-night stand kind of guy?" I asked and he smiled for the first time in the night "I'm not so sure anymore," he admitted. All I could tell in this conversation was I had absolutely no way to get out of it and X was out there, waiting for me to finish so he could kill this man and we could both get to sleep. Think Adel, think, there must be something that turns men off women…especially shallow men… bingo "Would you mind if I be honest?" I asked him

"By all means," he said, smiling  
"I moved to Sicily from Rome," I said, "I used to work as the manager of a small store, but I made a few mistakes and I ended up getting pregnant with a boyfriend who left me as soon as I told him. I have a two year old at home." He seemed surprised  
"You don't look old enough to have a child," he admitted. Of course I didn't, I was stupid! I looked like a twenty year old at most.

"I was young when I got pregnant," I admitted and studied his face before smiling "I can tell you aren't looking for baggage, especially if you're only just thinking of settling down now. Thank you for your time."

"Children aren't so bad," he said. Oh gosh, could you give me a break? I thought angrily. I smiled at him "It's a lot to take into, think about it," I said, getting up and I leaned into his ear "And call me." When I was behind him, I motioned to the bartender that he would pay for my drink – after all, he wouldn't be needing the cash after tonight and walked out quickly before he could stop me. I turned the corner and turned back to my normal self. X was the only one out of Midnight Dagger to know of magic and he wasn't anywhere to be found. I stopped in the dim light of a nearby lamp post and crumbled to the floor. He was going to die and I couldn't do anything about it, why? Because even after these months of training I was still weak. I still had people who controlled my life.

"You took far too long and you speak like a child," I looked up to see X standing in front of me. I got up "I'll keep that in mind," I mumbled before walking behind him.

"Tomorrow you will start having to extract information from people within the mob. Do this wrong and you die," he said.

"Okay," I muttered

"And you will have to learn how to tail people," he continued. I looked at the street around us and suddenly wanted to do nothing but teleport to the House of Black and crawl into Uncle Orion's lap, but there was no escape for me.

…

"How's she going?" I turned to see Uncle had miraculously appeared on the eve of my return to Hogwarts. "She is a quick learner," X admitted, "But she still needs training."  
"Is it alright if I keep her here on the weekends?" he asked.  
"She is a bit of a nuisance," X admitted, "We are very busy at the moment."  
"Make her work for you," Uncle said, "She can gather information."  
"Bring her next week and I'll see what we can arrange," X said. I pulled my trunk out of the entrance and didn't bother to wait for Uncle as I made my way to a quiet corner and teleported back to Hogsmeade. "What's got you?" I heard his voice say from behind me

"Some family you turned out to be!" I snapped, "You leave me with a bunch of strangers to watch them kill people for money!"

"Ariana," he began

"Save it," I cried.  
"Ariana, this is the way of life! Are they any different to you, who wants to kill people to avenge your family?" he asked. I threw my broom onto the ground and clutched my head

"I don't know what I want anymore," I admitted, "Maybe I just want a normal life. I never wanted to kill them."  
"And what happens when they do this to other people?" he asked

"I don't care about other people," I said, "Can't I just go to school and come home to…" I cut off, because there was no home and nobody to come home too. "You will continue with training," Uncle said and I looked at him "What do _you_ get out of this?" I asked him, "Surely you really aren't just doing this for my revenge."  
"I told you, I need a disciple," he said  
"Why? Being a mercenary is just a job," I said, "I mean it's not like you're fighting against something, aren't you?" I couldn't see anything from his clothed face

"Go back to school Ariana," he said

"Don't I have a right to know why I'm being sent to Italy to watch people die?" I hissed

"I'll tell you in time," he said  
"Just like you told me in time what you were doing to my heart? Or how you told me in time that the world would just forget about me?" I cried, "I hate you, you know that!"

"I know," he said before turning and leaving. I cried out in frustration before picking my broom up and walking back to the castle.

As I entered I saw people were in the Great Hall greeting their friends and catching up after the holidays. I walked through the crowd only to have someone shoulder me and I fell to the ground "Watch were you're going," I snapped and looked up to see the boy who had at first been laughing with his friends at pushing me over, turned to me surprised "Excuse me?" he asked.

"I said watch where you're going!" I cried. I spotted Yelena in the crowd who was pointing at her face. I realised I hadn't changed into my pretty version. I glared at the boy down, sick of everyone at Hogwarts for hating me because of the way I looked and bullying me because I was small and looked like an easy target. He pushed me and I fell into – oh great, Sirius Black. I really didn't have the mind to deal with this at the moment. I got up and grabbed my broom "Ariana, haven't seen you in months, my hexing arms a bit sore," he said, grinning. I grabbed my broom and trunk

"Look around you Black, you have Slughorn to your left and McGonagall to your right, just leave me alone," I snapped,  
"I see it as more of a challenge," he said, shrugging. That was it, I'd had enough of being treated like this! I grabbed the back of my broom and swung it around like a baseball bat. It hit Sirius in the face, hard and he fell back more out of surprise then anything. Before he could recover or any of the crowd for that matter. I turned and hurried off.

I got to the Slytherin dorms and went up to my bed and changed into Ariana and put my things away. Cleo and Yelena came in laughing "Didn't know you had such a good swing, maybe bludger is a good position for you," Cleo said. I sighed

"If Marcel could see me right now, he'd be disappointed," I said, slowly and something told me that wasn't all he'd be disappointed in me for. "Oh relax, how was your holidays?" Yelena asked, jumping onto my bed. I sighed "Don't even ask, just tell me about yours," I said.

"Boring!" she sung, "But I did manage to make a few nice outfits."  
"Well I've really been taking a look at the property market," Cleo said, "And I really think I have a good strategy for making money – but my parents weren't even interested in listening to me."

I opened a box I had in my trunk and emptied it on the bed. I whole pile of notes fell out and I opened the second drawer I had to the left of my bed and grabbed the wads of cash I had in their too and put them on the bed "I don't know if it's enough for a house, especially with the conversion rate between pounds and galleons but it's all yours," I said, sitting at the bottom of my bed and sorting through my clothes. "How did you make this money?" Cleo asked

"Fighting," I answered. That one fight before going to the Black's hadn't been my only one. Uncle wanted to make sure it hadn't just been a fluke and each time I had gotten paid out a ridiculous amount of money. "Ariana, with this you would never have to work again!" Yelena cried, "You could be completely self-sufficient! You could pay people to protect you."  
"Money easily comes and goes," I said, thinking of my family's fortunes that all lay in some vault in the Ministry of Magic, probably being used to help aid more aurors in killing more families "And it makes you more vulnerable, at the moment I don't need it and I have no idea what to do with it, so it's yours." Cleo flicked her wand and the money began counting itself. Her eye's widened when the number was read out and Yelena helped her with the conversion rate as I put on the night gown Bella had bought me. "A million galleons," Yelena scoffed.  
"Keep it safe," I murmured, "And if you don't mind cleaning it off my bed, I'm tired."  
"If you have no idea what to do with it, I'll take it," Cleo said, "But when I make enough money out of it, I'm buying a really nice house out in the country for you to live in – and Yelena you can build maybe a brand out of this."  
"I never actually thought it was possible!" Yelena squealed. I sat in bed and thought to myself  
"Guys," I said, slowly, "Would you live with me when we grow older?"

"Live with you?" Yelena said and I felt her arms around me, "You won't be able to get rid of me!" I smiled and curled up in bed, maybe I would one day have a home to go too with people waiting for me. I closed my eyes and went to sleep.

We trained in the morning and I finally told them what I had been up to on my holidays. Cleo continuously told me how I wasn't at fault and that I had every right to get upset at Uncle, but to be honest, I didn't know who to blame because it felt like we were all to blame. Unfortunately, I went to Potions to find Sirius Black was looking for the real version of me. Nobody seemed to remember an emaciated first year by the name of Ariana Dumbledore and whomever he asked, would do nothing but point at me. "Sirius if I hear you call out my name one more time," I warned. He sighed  
"There's another Ariana," he said, "And she did this to my face." He had a bruise on his cheek. He could have healed it quit easily, but for dramatics he had chosen to keep it. "You deserved it," I growled.

"I did not!" he said indignantly, "She bumped into me and then she hit me with a broom!"  
"So you're telling me you didn't threaten to jinx her?" I asked him

"Well, maybe a little," he said and the class sniggered  
"You find that funny!" I roared and the class immediately quietened down and they looked like they'd been slapped. Sirius on the other hand seemed completely unfazed by my uproar "What's gotten into _you_?" he asked me,

"The fact you think it's funny to jinx people," I cried, "Innocent people too! Ariana's this tiny little girl, why can't you leave her alone?"  
"Please," Sirius said, bored, "Don't go all Evans on me." Lily turned red and the class seemed to read that Sirius had calmed me down because they laughed again. "One day you'll get a taste of your own medicine," I hissed. I knew I needed to calm down or I'd blow my cover, but I couldn't! After all I'd seen in the outer world, Hogwarts was supposed to be this sanctuary, but for me, it wasn't. It was a prison. "Are you sure you're alright Ariana, did something happen on the holidays?" he asked. I looked up to see he was genuinely concerned and it made me boil. So he hexed Adeline, but he worried about Ariana? The shallow jerk, I thought to myself. "It's none of your business," I growled and continued to work on my potion. I could feel him staring at me for a good few minutes before turning back to his own potion.

After class Cleo pulled me into an abandoned corridor and turned "What the heck has gotten into you Ariana?" she asked. I sighed  
"I'm sorry, it's just after the holidays it irritates me to see everyone being so – horrid," I said, "I mean it's like everything that's happening in the outside world is concentrated right here in Hogwarts – like this is an exact replica of the outside world, but in a bad way and I just – hate it."  
"Yeah, but you're not just a little girl here," Yelena pointed out, "You're Ariana Dumbledore and I can honestly say nobody would even think of pushing you around, not even a seventh year." She was right, I was in control in this environment, I just needed to be cool and I could change Hogwarts quietly and secretively. "You're right," I said, "I'll relax."  
"Good, now let's get to Transfiguration," Cleo said and Yelena looped her arm into mine.

Transfiguration was as per usual, until the end of class where I saw the 'Marauders' waiting outside. "Stalking me Black?" I asked, suspiciously. He grinned

"Actually, I want to talk to McGonagall," he said

"About what?" I asked

"Wouldn't you like to know," he said, waggling his eyebrows. Did he honestly think he was funny?  
"Suit yourself," I said, shrugging and walked off. I saw the classroom empty and the Marauders go in. "Come on guys," I whispered and went up to the wall and muttered "_Denzca_!" Immediately sound began filtering through the wall. "…why would you be after that kind of information?" I heard Professor McGonagall ask suspiciously. "We need to keep_ him_ in check," I heard James Potter say. Professor McGonagall hmphed "Well it's quite a common subject, you will find plenty of information about it at the library," she said

"That's the problem. It's information _about_ them, but nothing on how to _become_ one," Sirius said.

"That is because it is quite difficult," Professor McGonagall said, "You need a lot of concentration and to be frank boys, I think it's beyond your capacity."  
"Please Professor, did Dumbledore tell you what happened last month?" Sirius continued.

"That's _Professor_ Dumbledore," McGonagall corrected, then after a moment's silence she sighed "Very well then, but if I hear of any of you using your abilities for the worst, I will personally see to it that you remain in your animal forms forever!" Professor McGonagall cried, "Now follow me, I've got a few books for you." I immediately jumped out of the way and ran with Cleo and Yelena back to the main staircase. "What was that about?" Yelena asked.

" 'Stay in your animal forms forever'?" I repeated, "What on earth could that mean? And who do they need to keep in check?"

"Whatever it is, it's none of our business," Cleo said bringing the two of us back down to the ground "I mean, we've got enough on our plate as it is."  
"I know but – what happens if it's a particularly nasty prank?" I asked Cleo

"If Professor McGonagall's in on it, I doubt it is," Cleo said.

"Still, doesn't it make you curious?" Yelena asked, and it was what we were all thinking. The Marauders were up to something and we wanted to know what it was.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter

"How did you say you got the injury?" Madam Alberts asked

"Fell off my broom and into a tree," I said as I winced. I had a slash all down my back from a knife. Saturday's I spent working for X and the Midnight Dagger by gathering information and I had to admit, I was good at it, but Sunday's I was spent being trained for harder things – like tailing fully armed men in quiet, open neighbourhoods where it is quite easy to be spotted and obviously I wasn't any good at it, because I'd been taken by surprise. I was lucky to just get away with a laceration. Madam Alberts was rubbing nauseating ointment on my back and I could feel the cut get smaller and healing. "There, you'd better come in tomorrow for a check-up," she said

"Will do," I lied as I pulled my shirt back down and over my back, "Thank you,"  
"No problem at all dear, you should be careful on your broom, we aren't all made to be flyers," she said "I'll keep that in mind," I said as I pulled my bag over my back and opened the curtain only to find the Marauders in here. "What was that about flying?" Sirius asked

"Did you try and get back on your broom?" James asked. Oh great, they'd heard what I said – but was it really bad if they found out I was bad at flying? I mean, maybe they would finally begin to back away from me. "Yeah," I said, "Guess I'm not cut out for it." I said shortly and made to move past them but James blocked my way "Hey, don't give up," he said, cheerfully, "I'm sure if you try harder you'll be back in the air in no time."

"Can't you just – give up on me?" I said, hopefully. He patted my back and I moved away, I didn't want to be touched by the likes of him, but he didn't seem to mind at all "If you need any pointers or any lessons call me any time," James said, "I'll be more than happy to get you back in the air."  
"I'll keep that in mind," I said – I liked using that phrase, it was better than no. I was going to walk away, when I stopped and remembered what I'd heard from them last week and turned around "What are you guys doing in the hospital wing?" I asked, trying to sound casual

"Us? A spell back fired on Remus, he's recovering from it right now," Sirius said. It would have sounded like a perfectly normal thing to say, but X was teaching me how to read whether a person was lying and I knew Sirius was lying about something. His breathing pattern had changed and his voice was slightly higher than usual. I walked past them and opened the curtain only to find Remus in bed, with cuts and bruises everywhere and looking quite sick. "See?" Sirius said. They were hiding something, I could just feel it "Hope it wasn't some ridiculous prank," I growled

"No, it was all very innocent," Sirius said, "But, um, shouldn't you be going somewhere right now?" I looked at him suspiciously. I was Ariana Dumbledore, people begged for my company and Sirius Black was by far no exception – so why was he asking me to leave? "Actually I'm late for a meeting," I lied and turned and walked off. How dare he ask me to leave? Oh, I couldn't wait to find out what it was they were hiding and expose it to the entire school.

It was morning at the Great Hall when I called Cairo down and began writing a letter to none other then Regina Joice.

_Dear Regina Joice,_

_This is Ariana Dumbledore, we met at the Christmas Party that Professor Slughorn threw. I have done some research about Healers and I am very interested in becoming a Healer in the future and was wondering if there were any courses you could recommend that could begin teaching me the skills I would require as I am eager to begin my training now and Professor Slughorn believes I am already beyond the first year curriculum and need something to stimulate my mind._

_Thank you _

_Ariana Dumbledore_

Not my best letter, but it would get the job done. I looked at Cairo and smiled, ruffling his feathers, he was really the perfect pet as I fastened the letter onto his leg. Having him send the letter gave me this air of power and importance. It wasn't just anyone who had a griffon as a pet. He immediately took off and I settled down to eat a piece of toast. Just as I finished another owl swooped down and landed in front of me. I frowned, it was a rather well groomed, grand pet and I saw the seal of the House of Black on the letter. I took it eagerly and opened it.

_Dear Adeline,_

_How is Hogwarts treating you? I was hoping maybe we could talk tonight using the dolls? Or if that's weird you have to send me a letter every day. I really wish I could be at Hogwarts with you, I can't wait till the holidays when you come to see me again – which you'd better have and I can teach you how to fly properly. Remember you said you wouldn't fly without me. I really miss you Adel, I hope you're okay and if my brother's annoying tell me, I can try and tell him to stop_

_Love Regulus A. Black_

I laughed out loud at his letter which was all over the place and looked up to see everyone staring at me. I sobered up "Who is the letter from?" Bella asked. I smiled

"Regulus," I admitted and she grinned, she didn't understand our bond very well and took it as something more adulterous

"You mean Regulus Black, of the Black Family – Sirius Black's brother?" a third year asked

"Yes, yes and unfortunately," I said, smoothly

"How do you know Regulus Black?" she asked, and she sounded jealous. Regulus could be the most hideous person with the worst temperament, but he was still a Black and for that, he was wanted. Cleo immediately glared her down "What is it to you?" she snapped,

"I-I just want to know how you know each other," she said, trying to maintain her ground, but if Cleo didn't scare her, there was only one person who would. "Please," Bella snapped, "Do you honestly think my cousin would go after scum like you?" She really didn't hold back. She turned bright red, got up and ran off. Bella wasn't looking for a thank you, instead she looked back down at her plate and continued to eat. I got out a piece of parchment and wrote down

_Regulus,_

_Firstly, it's Ariana, please do try to remember that and Hogwarts is treating me fine, it just happens to get on my nerves sometimes – and yes, I mean the whole school. I really wish you were here too, you would make this place so much more bearable and I am glad to see you haven't changed and I miss you immensely and I do plan to visit you during the holidays. As for flying, if you remember correctly I never actually said I would wait till you were here to fly, so please do wait for news of any injuries._

I paused for a moment and turned to the Gryffindor table only to see Sirius with burnt pieces of paper in front of him – probably from the Black Family. I sighed and turned back to my piece of parchment

_Sirius is annoying as ever, but only annoying in the way a bug is when it's flying around your face. I don't know if you remember but he actually used to be quite nice, I was wondering what happened? Anyways, I don't think you should waste your time writing on him, he never reads his letters, but on a happier note, at ten o'clock tonight I'll be in my room with the doll so you can speak to me._

_Next letter you send me add in more about your life at home_

_Yours faithfully,_

_Ariana Dumbledore_

"Yours faithfully," Bella read out loud. I turned to see her behind me "How cute."  
"Thank you Bella, for pointing that out," I murmured and she laughed

"Attach this onto the owl as well, would you?" she asked and I did as I was told and attached my own letter onto the owl's leg "You two make a perfect match," Bella said  
"And last I remembered Regulus was promised to somebody else," I said, pulling my bag over my shoulder and looking at Bella. She grinned "Nothing beats a West-" I cleared my throat loudly and she sighed. "Any who, if I remember correctly, you would have been promised to one of my cousins," she said. My parents hadn't believed in arranged marriages. They couldn't, after all my mother had been promised to somebody else and my father had rather romantically swept her off her feet and had gone and begged her father to reconsider and with the wealth that my father held, it was all too easy for my grandfather to agree with the new proposal, but the Westwood family had always been close with the Blacks and I knew Bella was right. Though nothing would have stopped me from falling for somebody else, I would have ended up marrying either Sirius or Regulus anyways. "Bella," I called and she turned to me. I leaned in so nobody could hear me  
"Before – the accident, was Regulus ever promised to somebody else?" I asked. She smiled  
"I know what you're asking and it was actually Sirius Black that was promised to you," Bella said. I turned and looked at the idiot on the Gryffindor table having people die his hair into a rainbow of colours "And Regulus?" I asked

"Lucy Westwood," she mumbled. I nodded slowly and she grabbed my hand "Don't worry, Aunt Wal's not cruel enough to force Sirius onto you. We're thinking of taking Regulus' match and giving him to her."  
"His new match?" I asked

"Yeah, when we thought you were dead we gave Reg a new fiancé," she said  
"Same with Sirius right?" I asked her and she frowned

"He went a bit funny after that time. He was already sounding like a blood traitor," Bella said, "We had bigger problems handling him then having a partner ready for him, but we were leaning towards the Parkinson's daughter."  
"Nancy?" I asked, surprised

"Jealous? Thought you were smarter than that Adel, but if you want Sirius I guess you can have him, a pure blood heir is still an heir," Bella said, shrugging, but I could see she was teasing me

"Please Bella, I'd do anything to get some part of my family back, but if I have a choice between Regulus and Sirius, even a fool would choose Regulus," I said and she grinned, pleased, "I had better get to class," I said, "You take care."  
"Always do," she sung and I beckoned for Cleo and Yelena to join me.

"Can't believe that third year actually had the guts to say something to you," Cleo cried and Yelena began saying all the information she had on the girl. I nodded, but I wasn't listening. Bella had said that Sirius had begun to change after the murder of my family. Maybe he _had_ been affected by his best friend's death, but that didn't make any sense. If he had known about the killing wouldn't he hate aurors, muggles and Gryffindor? Something had happened and I wanted to find out what it had been.

…

At ten o'clock at night I was sitting on my bed, with a doll in front of me. I had just finished my transfiguration homework and was done for the night. "Do you really think it's going to work?" Yelena asked, looking at the doll suspiciously. She didn't really like dolls. "He's late," I grumbled

"Please Ariana, not everyone in the world keeps time as anally as you do," Cleo teased. I sighed and lay down on my bed "Fine then, what time do people mean when they say ten o'clock?" I asked

"Wait ten minutes," Cleo said

"OH MY – AH!" Yelena cried. I shot up to see she'd fallen on the ground and the doll on my bed looked like it was getting comfortable on my pillow. "Adeline?" it asked and I smiled, the doll was supposed to mimic the person's actions and the doll right now looked unsure of itself "I'm right here Reg," I said and it smiled  
"I got your letter an hour ago," he said and yawned – he didn't seem like he stayed up till ten at night. "Did you? How is the House of Black?" I asked him  
"The usual," he shrugged, "Did you _scream_ when this turned on?"  
"No that was Yelena," I said, "Remember my friends? Yelena and Cleo? I told you about them right?"  
"Yes," Regulus said, "It's lovely to meet you all."  
"You too," Yelena said cheerfully

"Yeah," Cleo said, before collapsing into her own bed and pulling the covers up

"Are you really going to attempt flying?" Regulus asked. I laughed

"I'm not that bad," I said, "And don't worry about my heart, it seems to be sturdier then you think."  
"Seems to be? Adel, I don't want you on that broom!" Regulus cried, "To think after just being told you're alive, you'll be taken from me again!" I warmed knowing somebody actually cared

"I won't be taken anywhere, so stop worrying about me," I said, "I'm older then you, you should respect me."  
"Yeah, well you don't act older than me," he grumbled and I laughed again

"Is Uncle Orion and Aunt Walberga alright?"  
"Everyone's fine Adel, it's actually kind of boring here," he said

"Remember it's Ariana, Reg," I said

"Nobody can hear us," he said, he seemed not to like calling me Ariana, "Anyways, about the letter, you were asking about Sirius." My ears pricked up

"Yeah," I said, "You said he became a bit funny after the accident, what did you mean?" Silence fell upon us and the doll looked uncomfortable "Just forget about Sirius, Adel," Regulus finally said

"What do you mean? I'm not a little girl, what happened?" I asked, suspiciously

"News broke out about the Westwoods – lies about the fact they were avid Death Eaters and had torture chambers for muggle's in the basement. Sirius believed every single word. He stopped wanting to talk to us after that and he hasn't been the same since. He's my brother and for that I have to love him, but I'm warning you Adeline, he's different now," Regulus said, but I just couldn't bring myself to believe it. Even after jinxing me and hurting me – Sirius Black was my little brother's friend. The cheery kid who used to think you got cursed if you touched girls and whom we used to have snow ball fights with. Maybe blaming people was his way of mourning? Or maybe it was just wishful thinking "Yeah," I said, slowly, "You're probably right."  
"I am," he said, "Now on cheerier news I got accepted into our town's under eleven Quidditch team."  
"That's pretty cool," I said, humouring him with praise, "Do you think you're going to join the Quidditch team here?" He began going on about Quidditch, but my mind was wondering to everything that was happening around me. Sirius was beginning to put my life into perspective.

…

The next morning Cairo swooped down onto my table, frightening all the other owls out of the way. I took the letter and read it.

_Ariana Dumbledore,_

_It is wonderful to hear that you have decided to become a Healer and I would recommend that you speak to Madam Alberts, the school healer if she would like to take you under her wing to teach you basic healing spells. I am afraid that at St Mungo's we only take in select seventh year students for a few weeks of experience, but apart from that you must complete the necessary level of NEWTs and be excepted into the specialist training course, which I am sure with your enthusiasm will be done with ease._

_Regina Joice._

I crumpled the letter in my fist and it burst into flames which caused a few students around us to jump in fright. Bella was right, the outside world was harder to control – I mean honestly what could I learn from a _school nurse_? Didn't Regina take me seriously? Oh, she'll be sorry, I thought to myself, just wait till I get out of Hogwarts. "Why don't you take up lessons with Madam Alberts?" Yelena asked, as she licked her spoon. "Please, what can I learn from the school nurse?" I grumbled

"Madam Alberts is actually quite qualified," Yelena said, "They say Hogwarts only takes the best of the best and Alberts apparently used to be Head Healer at St Mungo's."  
"Then why'd she get kicked out?" I asked

"Apparently she couldn't handle the stress of the emergency department – what with all the extra injuries from the war outside, so she decided to settle in Hogwarts where it's safer and more relaxed – apparently she'll retire soon too," Yelena said. I had given up on asking her exactly where she always got her information from, but I knew it was correct. I sighed "Well even if she was absolutely incompetent, I'm stuck with her now aren't I?" I said, chewing savagely on my cereal.

Potions came up and we were learning an antidote to a love potion. The problem with love potions was that the antidotes were always so much more complex than the potion itself, which was why you had some people stuck with being in love with people for longer than needed. I brewed it perfectly and decided to stay in class anyway. For some reason, I had a short fuse and even going to the library to study was beginning to annoy me. "It's all those weekend lessons," Cleo explained, "You're only eleven, knowing you're helping in people's death is going to work on anyone's conscience."

"Gee thanks for pointing that out," I grumbled as I opened my book and tried to study. I sighed "Sirius, you are making it very hard to study when you keep gawking at me like that," I cried and looked up to see everyone in the class laughing at him. He didn't seem to care in the least "You look down these days Ariana, are you okay?" he asked. I turned bright red – I couldn't believe he actually announced that to the entire class! "Perfectly fine," I said, "Now can you please get back to your potion?"  
"What? No snarky remark?" he asked, surprised.

"Do you want one?" I sighed, turning the page in my book, in a futile attempt to try and learn

"No," he said, quickly and I didn't bother responding, but he continued to look at me.

Transfiguration actually calmed me down with Eugene Brooks, possibly the worst witch in the history of magic managing to somehow transform her eraser into a hexing machine, which was surprisingly a complex spell. She tended to have a stroke of genius – by accident. She was bright red as Professor McGonagall tried to not only duel the machine but try to convert it back into an eraser. The class ended with people making fun of her. She tried to run out of the room as I put my bag onto my shoulder but she tripped over her own feet causing even more people to laugh at her. She looked up to see me and went any even darker shade of red and avoided eye contact, I rolled my eyes "I'm not going to poke fun at you," I said, bored. She looked at me surprised  
"You aren't?" she asked, confused

"No, I prefer preying on the strong – it's more fun," I admitted. She sighed

"You think I'm weak then?" she asked, shoving her thick glasses up her nose. She had pores all over her nose and there seemed to be an indent in her nose from her glasses. She had thick, bushy black hair and eyebrows to match – and she didn't seem to have waxed her upper lip ever and it showed – but if you looked beyond all that you saw her pretty eyes and in them I saw the old me. The one that had entered Hogwarts looking to find friends though she wouldn't admit it "No," I said, finally, "No, I don't think you're weak at all." I was weak for what I had become and even though I knew it was wrong, I knew I wouldn't change being the pretty girl I was now because I was still weak. I couldn't take the harassment, but Eugene could. She was probably the strongest girl in all of Hogwarts. That was why I also like Hufflepuff – the kind hearted house. Helga Hufflepuff had said she would take the rest of the students that the other houses didn't want, but she was just being modest. If you read enough about her, which I had, you would find it was the kind hearted that she wanted and those with a strong will for good. "Ariana?" I shook my head and smiled at Eugene who looked a little stunned "Is anybody giving you trouble?" I asked her.  
"Pardon?" she asked. I wanted to protect this girl – I couldn't stop the assassinations in Italy or the murder of aurors and Death Eaters alike around the world, but I could take care of her. If someone had done the same for me when I had entered this school I wouldn't have the kitometrix on my heart right now and I would be a normal, happy student at Hogwarts. "Is anybody bullying you?" I asked. She frowned "Not excessively," she admitted, though she was suspicious. I smiled at her

"If anybody's giving you any trouble, or if you need someone to talk to, come and see me, okay?" I asked her. "Er, okay?" she said.

"Good, now you better go get to class before you're late," I told her and she realised she was late because she gave me an awkward good bye before running out. "What was that?" Cleo asked

"You know she's us – when we started school," I told them and they understood  
"We could give her a make-over," Cleo suggested, but I shook my head

"She's beautiful the way she is, on the inside and out and until people realise that, let's take care of her," I said

"Yeah, give her something we didn't have," Yelena agreed, understanding.

"Come on, we have lunch and then DADA," I said and we moved off.

We were asked to buddy up with a 'friend' from the other house. Gosh this class was getting off to a bad start to begin with. I spotted a girl from Gryffindor whom I knew thought I was cool and tried to make the run I made for her as smooth as possible, but I was stopped by Sirius. "Want to partner up?" he asked, eagerly  
"Sure," I said and he looked at me funny

"You've been acting strange Ariana," he said

"Yeah, you've been telling me that for the past few weeks now," I snorted as I sat down in my seat and Sirius took Yelena's empty spot "You look troubled, I just want to help you out," he said. I looked at him suspiciously "And what do you want in return?" I asked

"We're friends, aren't we?" he asked. I looked right at him surprised and I couldn't help but remember all those times we'd gone out merpeople watching with my father, or we had gone to the zoo together and saw baby dragons or the sphinx's who liked to come over and have a good chat to you. "Aren't we?" he said again. I snapped out of my thoughts – did I really want revenge on him?  
"Yeah," I said, shakily, "Yeah, we're friends."

"See, that's another thing," Sirius said, smiling, "You've been a lot nicer to me these past few days." I had to get a grip on myself, I couldn't just fall for wishful thinking – hoping that Sirius actually cared about Marcel and if he did, so what? He'd still jinxed me! "What makes you want to be my friend in the first place?" I asked him, "I'm a Slytherin remember?" He shrugged  
"You're not that bad – for a _Slytherin_," he said, grinning. _Wrong answer _because I regained my usual composure "Well you're really the worst of Gryffindor," I growled, "You know I take it back, I don't want to be your friend." I expected him to finally retaliate but instead he just laughed  
"And there's old Ariana back," he said. I had to research him more to figure out what was really going on with him, but I wasn't going to drop my guard. The doors swung open at the back of the class and we all turned to see a man in official robes coming in and handing a letter to Professor Hughes. He opened it and began reading through it and suddenly his face lightened up "Fantastic! Class we've been invited along with the other houses to have a lesson with the Minister of Magic and some of the auror's from the auror department in the Great Hall," he said. Immediately I stiffened – auror's? "Wow, that's so cool!" Sirius cried out and James nodded eagerly to his friend.  
"Okay, gather your books and bags and we can head on over now," Professor Hughes said. I packed my bag before clutching my stomach "Sir, I don't feel so well," I moped, "Would it be alright to go to the infirmary?"

"Nonsense Ariana, it is an honour to have a lesson with the auror's," he said, sternly. Did he really think I was pulling a ridiculous Death Eater wannabee tantrum? He pushed me along "Now come along," he said, singing it out as his mood returned back to happy. I rolled my eyes as Cleo and Yelena joined me. "I should really hurry up and learn the Unforgivable Curses," I muttered to them

"Don't do anything rash Ariana," Cleo whispered urgently.

It seemed the second years had just had a lesson because they were filing out. I grabbed onto a Slytherin "What's going on?" I asked him. His wand was out and it looked like he had been practicing something. "Nothing they're just trying to teach us the Patronus charm," he said

"Patronus?" I asked, I hadn't heard of that spell before

"Yeah, it's used against dementor's," he said.

"The guards of Azkaban," Cleo explained.

"Why?" I asked. The boy seemed all too happy to share his bit of information with me

"Apparently they're stationing dementor's in Hogsmeade and the Forbidden Forest," he said, "They say we should be careful, they think there's a bunch of Death Eater's camped out in the forest waiting to seize the school."  
"That's ridiculous," I scoffed, but I wasn't so sure. I released him and walked on over to the Great Hall and stood at the back of the Slytherin group who were sitting down on the floor. I leaned against a table that had been left behind and Yelena went off somewhere. The auror's seemed to be relaxing from the last group of student's they'd taught. "Why would they be teaching us the patronus? Don't dementor's only attack people they're set on to?" I asked. Cleo shrugged

"All I know is that it's the type of spell you learn in sixth year," she said. No wonder I hadn't come across it. I was only just finishing second year material. Yelena came back "Apparently they're teaching us the patronus as a caution," Yelena said, "They've never used dementor's for anything other than guarding Azkaban and they're not entirely sure what they're capable of."

"So they're that desperate in this war that they're using creatures they don't understand?" Cleo scoffed.

Yelena shrugged "It seems so."  
"Got any information on the Patronus charm?" I asked her and she shook her head

"Seems everyone's as clueless about it as we are – only thing I picked up from the Minister of Magic is that it's a hard spell to use – he's worried we're not going to pick it up. Nearly all the second years couldn't and for the ones that could, they said the spell was weak," she said.

"Great," I grumbled, "The one spell I haven't practiced before and it's the hardest one we'll probably ever have to do."

"Relax, we'll get it," Cleo said, shrugging. I sighed as the "Marauders" came to sit right next to me

"Hey Ari," Sirius said

"Ariana, it's Ariana," I growled, "And what do you want?"  
"Professor Hughes sent us to keep an eye on you," he said. I hated that man with a passion

"Well you can go, I don't need to be baby sat," I said.

"Settle class," Professor Hughes called. Everyone settled down and I waited impatiently to see what was going to happen. "I would like to introduce the Minister of Magic Millicent Bagnold!" The elderly man came out and introduced himself "As you all know the war against – you-know-who is escalating and the Headmaster of Hogwarts, Professor Dumbledore and I have agreed that extra measures need to be taken to protect the school and the best guards the ministry have to offer are the dementors of Azkaban," he said. Whispers broke out – even the most innocent students were scared, after all didn't dementors suck your soul out? What stuck out for me was that even the Minister of Magic himself was afraid of using Voldemort's name. "Students!" Professor Hughes cried. Everyone quietened again "Now, dementors are completely harmless to all of you – unless one of you are a runaway from Azkaban," he said, laughing at his own joke. Cleo, Yelena and I, glanced uncomfortably at each other "However, Professor Dumbledore has decided it is best that all the students learn the Patronus Charm just in case, seeing as it is the first time dementors have been used to guard anything apart from prisoners. Now for that, we have decided to bring our best aurors to help the students learn the Patronus, after all, it is an incredibly hard spell to master." At that Allastor Moody lead the bunch of aurors out into the crowd and three of the houses clapped and cheered, except for the Slytherin's and I could see Professor Hughes note that. I looked at the faces of the aurors and froze. There, standing third to Moody was _him_. The head of the aurors, the one who broke into my home and killed my father. His hair had greyed, but I would never forget that face. I stood up from the chair and my hand went down into the pocket of my robes, I would make him pay. I would kill him for everything he did.

* * *

_I hope you guys enjoyed that chapter and the cliff hanger!_


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter

I felt a hand grab my wrist and turned to see Cleo staring at me "What are you doing?" she whispered

"It's him," I whispered back, harshly, "He killed my father." Cleo looked at the aurors before muttering a spell that caused an enormous rash to appear on my arm. She told Yelena to wait and grabbed both my arms to make sure I wouldn't pull my wand out and hex him, before getting to the nearest teacher and telling him I needed to go to the hospital wing. Once out of earshot she pushed me into an empty classroom and shut the door. "Which one?" she asked, evenly  
"Third to Allastor Moody," I said, tears falling out of my eyes, "It was him." Cleo wrapped her arms around me and I realised I was shaking. "I didn't want to see him ever again," I sobbed into her shoulder. His face resurfaced all my nightmares. My father whispering urgently to my mother to get us out, my mother not being able to leave my father and dying, my sisters, cousins, aunts, uncles and every other relative I had all dying in the house and the field outside – waking up to see that they hadn't even left my little brother and sister alive. "You can't do it Ariana," Cleo said softly, "You're not strong enough, not yet."

"I don't think I'll ever be strong enough," I admitted.

"You will be," Cleo said, looking me into the eye, "And if you're not, you have me and Yelena. No matter what you decide we'll help you along the way." I took a deep breath and slumped into a chair "Cleo," I said, slowly, "Maybe I want to fight him now – so he can kill me."

"What?" she cried. I looked up at her and shared my deepest thoughts

"He took everything from me. I've spent the last three years trying to survive, but after that night everything's so bitter. I can't explain it, but living for me, is a _struggle_ and I'm so tired. Let him finish the job because being the last Westwood in the world is a fate worse than death. I-I just want to stop trying and relax," I cried.

"How can you say that!" Cleo cried, "How can you just give up!" I jumped in surprise at her voice and she looked angry as she stared me right in the eye "Do you think this is all life has to offer?" she asked, pointing to Hogwarts, "You have decades left Ariana and if you've hit rock bottom the only place to go from here is up. How can you say you have nothing when you have me and Yelena and Regulus and the Blacks – and practically every bloody wizarding family in England who cares about you? So what if they like you because you're the last Westwood? They still like you! You've only been alive for eleven years Yelena, you have _so_ much more living to do and at the end of the day, the struggle will end. All this anger and bitterness and hate will go and you'll turn around one day and be glad you kept on struggling to live. Do you know why you hate everything? Because you live for your parents and for your family, but it's time to turn around and live for yourself. And if you don't want to live for you, live for your friends. So I'm going to tell you what you're going to do. You're going to train your butt off and you're going to become stronger than the Founding Four of Hogwarts, then you'll go find the bastard that killed your family and take the wand he killed your father with and shove it up his ass and kill him – if that's what you want and along the way you'll become the Queen of Hogwarts, the star of the Quidditch Team, you're going to make a new family with Regulus Black and you're going to live happily ever after and do you know why? Because you're not Ariana Dumbledore, you're freakin' Adeline Mary Westwood and you try so bloody hard to become the best of the best and you are the best witch and person I know and you deserve happiness. So get your butt back to practice and show that bastard just why the Westwood Family was one of the top wizarding families in the world." She was panting when she finished her speech, but I threw my arms around her and laughed though tears fell out of my eyes "Thanks Cleo," I said and she hugged me back

"That wasn't for show, I meant every word," she promised. I grinned

"Really? I thought you were getting carried away when you called me the 'star of the Quidditch Team'," I said and she grinned  
"You're the physical form of the saying 'if you try your hardest you'll succeed'," she said, "Trust me, if you really wanted to become a Quidditch star, you'd become pro in no time." I smiled and felt the weight on my shoulder lighten a bit.

We got back to practice and saw Remus Lupin partnered with Yelena. "Why are we partnered up?" Cleo muttered, rolling her eyes. I was going to partner with her if it wasn't for Sirius pulling me away. I was going to make a snarky remark but I saw he was looking very serious and the grip on my arm was tighter then needed. He pulled me away from the crowd and turned to me "What happened?" he asked.

"I got a rash, I think someone put some sort of powder on my arm," I shrugged. His face hardened "We both know that's a lie," he growled, "Nobody in first or second year has the guts to jinx you." I frowned at him

"Well, you already have an assumption in your head, so please tell me what you think I was doing, cause I have no idea what you're talking about," I said  
"I saw you get up Ariana, I could see you reaching for your wand," he hissed, "You wanted to hex the Minister of Magic!" I looked at him in surprise

"Sirius, just cause I'm a Slytherin doesn't make me hate the Minister let alone want to hex him," I said. "Don't joke about it," he cried and I realised just how upset he was. I grabbed onto his hand and looked him in the eye "Sirius, I mean it, I didn't want to jinx the minister," I said and his grip relaxed and his face softened "Then what were you doing?" he asked.

"Linda Silverstone was trying to jinx Dorothy Mallard," I said, shrugging, "Dorothy's a good friend of mine." He didn't think twice about believing me and for the first time, I was glad about joining the Midnight Dagger and learning how to lie properly. "Sorry about that," he said, running his fingers through his hair, "I was just – it's kind of your fault you know, you never say anything about yourself!"

"It's not my fault. All you ever talk about is Quidditch and it's hard to get a word in," I said, lightly and he laughed and spun his wand in his hand "How about now? Tell me about yourself," he said

"Thanks, but I'm more interested in learning the Patronus charm," I answered, "I don't want to get my soul sucked out by a dementor."  
"I think it's kind of cool," he said, shrugging. I looked at him incredulously, before turning to the auror instructing us on how to conjure the Patronus charm. Seemed easy enough, think of a happy thought and say '_Expecto Patronum_!'. "Pretty cool how a full Patronus Charm turns into your animal form…that could help," Sirius muttered more to himself then to me

"Pardon?" I asked and he jumped

"Nothing," he said, quickly

"And you said I was mysterious," I muttered before trying to think of a happy thought, which was actually incredibly hard. I thought of the first time I met Cleo and Yelena and we became friends. "_Expecto Patronum_!" I cried and it was like my wand was actually a dead stick. Nothing happened.

"_Expecto Patronum_!" Sirius cried and he actually got a bit of light out of his wand

"Excellent!" A female auror cried and Sirius lapped up the praise and continued

"Sirius," I cried, "What are you think of?" He grinned

"First time I met James and saw Hogwarts," he said. This was the type of circumstance where being as simple minded as Sirius was a good thing. How could looking at Hogwarts with James make him so happy he could conjure the Patronus Charm? That wasn't going to work for me. I tried everything, from meeting Uncle Abe, to meeting Uncle to winning my first fight, but nothing came to me. "You okay?" I looked over to see Cleo smiling at me

"Having trouble thinking of a happy thought," I muttered to myself.

"Have you tried thinking your family?" she asked

"That's a sad memory," I cried and she shrugged

"Aren't you glad you got to do those things?" she asked.  
"I'll give it a try," I muttered and moved away from the crowd and stood on my own. I closed my eyes and thought of my family.

"_Adeline?" I was at the beach and I could see mermaids on the shore combing their hair. I ran to my mother, but my legs were short and chubby as a six year old and I tripped just as I got to her. My father scooped me up into his arms "Oops," dad said, laughing_

"_Dad look!" I cried and showed him the water faerie I'd picked up from the rock pools. My hands were actually a little bloody from being bitten by it a few times and my father put his hand out and cooed at the faerie and it jumped onto my father hand. "Adel, you have to take care of things that are smaller then you," my dad said, "That's the responsibility you have to bear being a witch." I looked at the water faerie as my father took me back to the rock pool I found it and carefully put it back into the water. It jumped into the water and turned into a blue ball of light and disappeared. "Addie!" I turned to see Marcel who was unsteady on his feet. Dad let me go and I raced up and held onto Marcel's hand. "It's time to eat so why don't you two come along back to the picnic rug?" Dad cried and I went over to Lucy and Callum waiting under a tree "What happened to the water faerie?" I turned to see Sirius racing up to me, his hands a lot more bloody seeing as he was the one who had 'subdued' the faerie in the first place "Dad put it back," I said, "He said it's not good to hurt things smaller then us." Sirius rolled his eyes_

"_It took me an hour to catch it," he grumbled. Regulus practically jumped onto Marcel_

"_Look what I found," Reg cried and I saw a starfish in his hand_

"_Would you all sit like proper people!" I turned to see Aunt Walberga crying at us as my mother laughed lightly at us all. I turned to Sirius and mimicked his mother "Would you all sit like proper people!" I cried and even Regulus burst into giggles. We sat there and watched the sun set before sleeping on top of each other in a group._

I could almost feel the warmth and I opened my eyes and a tear escaped. I could see Sirius in the crowd right now, play duelling with James Potter. I'd been wrong, my memories were actually a lot more powerful then everyone else's because I could never take my family for granted. Every second I had spent with them had been pure happiness and that was how I remembered it. The grip on my wand had tightened it and I circled it around my head "_EXPECTO PATRONUM_!" I cried and flung it out in front of me. Light erupted from the tip of the wand and a head appeared in the silver mist that exploded from it. I could maintain it for a long time, just by thinking of the faces of my family smiling and waving to me. I let it go and I slumped to the floor, exhausted. Yelena got to me and helped me onto my feet, but I sunk back down to the floor, unable to hold myself up. "Amazing, you got the Patronus Charm," Professor Hughes said, simply out of wonder and not out of happiness that a Slytherin had managed to do it. "It was a lion head," Yelena said

"I thought it was an eagle head," Cleo said, grabbing my other arm and both Yelena and Cleo pulled me up and supported me. Sweat was pouring off my brow just as I saw the auror who had killed my father come up to me "Amazing work for a first year," he said, his voice was nasally, "What was your name again?" I looked at him and the anger and tears were held back by the simple fact that I knew I was going to make him pay. Cleo was right, I would train and work hard and one day I would be strong enough to defeat him. "Ariana," I said, "Ariana Dumbledore – and what would your name be?" He grinned and I saw yellowed teeth

"Gerald Ericson," he said, "Have we met before?" I didn't blink when I looked him right in the eye "I don't think so," I said, panting, "Would you mind getting out of my way so I can get to the hospital wing?"

"I beg your pardon?" he asked, stepping towards me.  
"I said get out of my way," I repeated and he glared at me

"That isn't the way you speak to an auror," he said, "Especially one of your kind." Cleo squeezed me

"I'll keep that in mind," I said

"You'd better," he hissed just as Professor Dumbledore shoved him out of the way  
"Get her to the hospital wing," he cried and that was all I could remember.

…

"You're finally up," Madam Alberts said, bustling around me. I got up and felt like my body was made out of lead. "Sorry about that," I muttered

"Don't force yourself," she cried and I sat up on my pillows  
"How long was I out?" I asked.

"The night," she said and I sighed, glad I hadn't missed out on much

"Is the aurors gone?" I dared to ask. She pursed her lips at me  
"Yes," she said, shortly, "Though don't go celebrating, they'll be back soon."

"I didn't mean it in that way," I said, my head feeling dizzy. Why was I explaining myself to Madam Alberts? Why did her name mean so much to me? There was something I had to do – oh yes. I looked at her, bustling around "Busy?" I asked her. She looked up at me, rather surprised I was so chatty "Of course, Quidditch season is in full swing and that means injuries everywhere!" she cried. I had been so busy with my own life I hadn't bothered to go to a single Quidditch match. "Don't you have any helpers?" I asked

"Of course not – Dumbledore says he'll provide house elves, but what am I going to do with house elves? They're so short hey can't even get to the top of the beds!" she cried as she went about looks at jars on the wall. "Actually Madam Alberts, I'm on top of my homework and I have an interest for healing," I said, slowly, "I was actually wondering if you needed an assistant of sorts." She stopped what she was doing and turned to me "Pardon?" she asked. I looked up at her

"I'm interested in healing," I said, "I was wondering if you didn't mind taking an assistant of sorts to help you around here. I'm a quick learner, but the books in the library about healing spells are quite advanced."

"You want to be a healer? You?" she asked, incredulously. I knew Madam Alberts was the type of woman why enjoyed gossiping a lot and I knew the gossip around me favoured becoming a death eater more than a healer. "Yes – is that a problem?" I asked.

"No, not at all," she said, "It's a wonderful profession dear, really, I'm surprised you want to be my assistant though, most of the upper years say I've lost my touch – they all love that healer from St Mungo's who comes to teach the Healing Course, but that's in third year, you probably don't know much about it…" Madam Alberts could also talk your ear off if you let her.  
"So you'll let me be your assistant?" I asked trying to catch her as she walked around. She turned

"Why of course dear," she said

"When I say assistant I mean learning how to heal," I said, "I don't mean cleaning bedpans and fixing beds though."  
"Oh, we've got plenty of children in detention to do that," she said, waving her hand, smiling.

"That's wonderful, I'll meet you after class then to train," I said

"Yes, that's good," she said, then I slipped back onto my pillow

"Good," I said, "I'll get to sleep then."  
"Of course dear," she said before running off again and I closed my eyes. Gerald Ericson, a name I wouldn't forget. He was still as corrupt as ever. I could still see the murderous look he'd given me when I'd asked him to get out of my way. I had said before that I wanted to live a peaceful life, but I was wrong. I would take revenge on Gerald and the other aurors that night and that meant I had to set some things right.

I slipped out of the portrait of Ariana Dumbledore and into the lounge room I hadn't been in in so long. "Thanks Ariana, don't tell Abeforth okay? He'll only worry," I said, looking at the girl in the portrait who sat back down. "Why are you even here?" she asked

"I need to apologise to someone," I said, vaguely, "But you promise you won't tell?" She sighed

"Only because it'll worry Abe," she said.

"Thanks," I said

"It's been so long since you've come to see him, Abe is lonely," she said

"He's been lonely since you died Ariana," I corrected, "With or without me, nothing going to change that." Her face crumpled in guilt "Relax," I said, quickly, "I have to go, you'll take care of him right?"  
"Of course," she said and I jumped out of the lounge room and up into the street in front of the Hog's Head. I pulled my cloak over my head and raced down across the brothel. An arm grabbed me and I turned to see a drunken wizard grinning at me "Are you knew to the brothel?" he asked. This man must be incredibly unlucky, I thought to myself as I shoved my knee up between his legs and he cried out in a high pitched voice before crumpling to the ground. I turned and continued to run all the way to the rundown apartment and made my way to Uncle's. I knocked on the door and the house-elf opened the door "Mistress Ariana," she said surprised.

"Is Uncle in?" I asked her

"He should be back soon," she said

"How soon?" I asked

"Any day now," she said. I sighed, so he was vague even to his house elf "Come in, Mistress," she said, quickly and I had a feeling the man I'd just hit would be waiting to attack me at the moment, so I decided to wait it out in the apartment. I let her take my cloak and sat down on a comfortable couch and looked outside at the night sky. She left me to myself, but came to give me a cup of tea. I had to apologise to Uncle. I hadn't seen him since the time I told him I'd hated him during Christmas and that was two months ago. I looked at my reflection in the mirror and put my hand to my chest and untwisted the kitometrix and saw my facial features morph back into my usual self. I smiled and played with my messy hair and looked at the study I had been brought to. I got up and went over to the books and looked at them all. There was an entire bookcase that had some form of the word '_Summoning_' on it. One completely on different magical beasts, another on flora, one on healing magic, which I'd be learning soon hopefully. I grabbed a healing book and brought it back to the chair and opened it. I frowned, this was nothing like the books at Hogwarts. These all had hand gestures and dances you had to perform and had objects written down that you used. It looked more like a journal then a book that had been written for use. A door slammed open and I jumped and grabbed my wand out of my pocket. "Master!" I heard the house elf cry. I lowered my wand as I heard the elf tell him I was in. I heard heavy footsteps before the door opened and I saw Uncle's youthful face scarred in cuts and he was soaked to the bone, though it was completely dry outside. "Uncle?" I asked. He slumped onto the seat next to me "What do you want?" he asked. I swallowed hard

"I came to apologise," I said, "But that doesn't matter, you need medical attention." He coughed a laugh and blood spurted from his mouth. He gasped and lifted his hand to his chest and for the first time I actually saw his kitometrix. It was exactly identical to mine and he spun it around to a symbol at three o'clock on the dial. His eyes turned to whites and weird symbols began weaving their way around his arm and body. "Remember," he said weakly, "Three o'clock is the Healing Mage." I didn't say anything as I saw him place his hand onto his chest and began taking deep breaths. The symbols on his arms shone blindingly white and so did his scars and cuts. In a matter of moments, the light disappeared and my Uncle looked completely fine. All his cuts had gone. "What is that?" I asked

"I told you, the kitometrix gives you ancient gifts beyond that of shape changing," he said, "One, as you discovered, gave you physical abilities like strength. At three o'clock, it turns you into a Healing Mage and you learn to master White Healing Magic," he said.

"Oh," I managed to squeak out. He twisted the kitometrix back to normal and the symbols disappeared. "So you came to apologise?" he asked. I regained my composure and told him about what had happened in Hogwarts "He hasn't changed," I said, "And I lost sight of what I wanted. I don't hate you. I just know what I want now."  
"And what is that?" he asked

"Happiness and peace of mind," I said, "The past makes me who I am, but I've been so wrapped up in it that I forgot I still have a future and I'm going to fight for it."

"You need to dedicate your life to the kitometrix Ariana," Uncle said, sternly and I looked up at him. I could see on his face that the kitometrix had nothing to do with anything

"I can tell you're lying," I said, "This is the side effect of having me trained well." He pursed his lips  
"With great power comes great responsibility," he said

"Only if you choose to use said power," I said, "There's something you're not telling me and until you do, I'm going to enjoy my freedom."

"Not yet," he said

"Is it the same thing that beat you up just now?" I asked.

"It's responsible for it," he said, slowly.

"Well," I said, cheerfully, "I don't care. You know I'm becoming a healer when I grow up? Maybe the Healing Mage gifts will help me out." I knew I was getting on his nerves and I was doing it on purpose to get him to finally tell me with what he was talking about. "Ariana, just trust me," he said

"It's not about _me_ trusting _you_," I said, "It's about _you_ trusting _me_ with the truth. Do you really think I'm going to turn and hide? I have nothing Uncle, I'm at rock bottom. You can tell me the world's going to end tomorrow and I wouldn't even blink – heck, I'd actually be happy about it," I snapped. He sighed "Then listen carefully," he said, "This war, the one against Voldemort is seeping into the Ancient world."  
"You mean Voldemort's got Ancient Wizards on his side?" I asked, surprised and frightened

"Don't worry, I doubt Voldemort even knows he's got Ancient Wizards on his side, let alone know how to use them," Uncle said, "The problem is, they're waiting for Voldemort to take over the wizarding world and when he does, the war would leave him so weak that they'll wage their own war against him and rule over the wizarding world – and perhaps from there they may take the muggle world as well," he said

"Why would they want to rule?" I asked, confused  
"Like the pure bloods, who believe it's their right to rule, some Ancients believe that because our magic is of the purest kind, we deserve to rule. To some of us, witches and wizards are like children who play with tricks," he said

"I thought you said Ancients are peaceful folk and we never fight," I said, confused

"We never fight _each other_," Uncle corrected, "Which is why if Voldemort wins, it'll be very easy for the Ancients to gather support and fight Voldemort."  
"Aren't you an Ancient, why are you against it?" I asked, confused.  
"I'm a gate keeper," Uncle said, "It's my job to protect the veil between the wizarding world you know and the Ancient realm you'll find out about soon enough. There should be very little interactions between the two worlds."  
"So I'm guessing it's your job to stop the Ancients from trying to rule this world?" I said. He nodded "But if you can't fight them, how are you supposed to stop them?"

"Who says I can't fight them?" he asked.  
"I thought you said Ancients don't fight each other," I said, confused.  
"Gate keepers pretty much make the exception," Uncle said, "We're really the only police our kind has."

"Why'd you keep that from me?" I asked

"Because, I can see in your eyes you have a million questions to ask me and all you need to do right now is focus on getting stronger," he said.  
"So you gave me the kitometrix so I can become a gate keeper?" I asked

"You have the traits Ariana and I've been looking for a disciple for a long time," he said. I leaned against the couch "Everything makes so much sense now," I said, thinking about how important he made it seem for me to network in Hogwarts and why he kept on asking me to train – it wasn't for my revenge, it was for his job. "You aren't angry?" he asked, slowly. I looked at his youthful face

"Not really," I admitted, "I'm actually just glad I understand now. How many gate keepers are there?"  
"A few, but we're pretty much the only ones for England," he said, "And unluckily it's where Voldemort is."

"Do they all have kitometrix's?" I asked

"Yes and enough with the questions Ariana, you need to go back to school," he said.  
"Fine," I grumbled, "But next time, just trust me with the truth, alright?"  
"I'll keep that in mind," he said

"I know what that means," I grumbled – it meant no, and he laughed as I turned and left. A gate keeper? It sounded so important, but what I feared the most was that the war was affecting me. Before, though I wasn't a Death Eater, the Death Eaters wouldn't harm me and with Dumbledore as my last name the aurors wouldn't touch me, but now I was training to be some sort of assassin for the war. I would be in the firing line for the rest of my life and if I didn't train properly, I would end up dead very quickly. I suddenly felt the urge to jog back to the Hog's Head instead of walk to try and squeeze that extra bit of training.

* * *

_So! What do you guys think? Hope you're enjoying it and sorry for the slow updates, I'll make it quicker now!_


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter

"Seems like your back to your usual self," Yelena said, cheerfully. I had been in pieces before Cleo's talk and I, myself was worried I would mentally break down one day, but for now, my friends were helping me get through every day. "Ha, yeah, sorry about that," I said, smiling at her. We were in the common room and though we were surrounded by Slytherin's, who all seemed to have their attention drawn somewhere else. "Well, I'd better be going to the hospital wing," I said, getting up and putting my books away "How are you finding Madam Alberts?" Cleo asked

"You have to wade through her chatter to actually get information out of her, but I can't complain," I said, shrugging, "I'll see you during class."

"Right, bye," Yelena said and I went up to the hospital wing. It was morning and I wanted to see how she treated people who had had an overnight stay. I had learnt a few healing charms already from her and learnt about different potions that could heal sicknesses, then I had gone to the library to learn how to brew them afterwards. I opened the doors to the hospital wing to find that Madam Alberts didn't greet me immediately, like she always did. I frowned and continued to walk through the room, ignoring people who said hello to me till I found her bent over a boy who looked incredibly pale and had cuts all over his face and body. "Remus?" I asked. Three boys who were surrounding him turned and looked like deer caught in the head lights. "What's going on?" I asked

"Nothing dear," Madam Alberts said, quickly – looking just as surprised as the boys and I knew she was lying. I went up to Remus and looked at his cuts and pale skin "What happened?" I asked him. He looked incredibly nervous "Relax, I don't bite," I grumbled and for some reason he seemed even more nervous. I sighed "Remus, I'm Madam Alberts assistant, if you want your cuts healed then stay still, if you don't then get out." He didn't say anything, but relaxed and I took my wand out, but Madam Alberts stopped me "Maybe I should do it dear," she said. I frowned, she was always so excited when I healed a patient. I looked among the three worried faces and spotted the weakest. I glided out of the way and swiftly grabbed Peter Pettigrew's collar and dragged him along with me before turning him to face me "What happened to Remus Lupin?" I asked, coldly, glaring him right in the eye.  
"Please Ariana, you're going to make him wet his pants," Sirius said. Peter turned bright red as Sirius lazily put an arm around his shoulder "Don't worry mate, if she looked at me like that, I'd wet my pants too," he said. Damn, I couldn't frighten him with Sirius in the picture

"Really Ariana, just let it go," James said, pulling his glasses up from his nose, "I know you're afraid that we're working on a prank, but this is something completely different."

"Well whatever it is, it's hurting Remus – I mean I thought you guys were friends," I said, shrugging and playing the guilt game, hoping to get it out of them, "I mean is it really that important?"  
"We're not doing anything to him!" Peter cried and Sirius rammed him in the ribs.

"Do you really think I'm going to go and tell somebody?" I asked

"It's not about that," Sirius said, looking very uncomfortable, "It's really not our secret to tell."

"It's Remus' right?" I asked and Sirius nodded slowly. I lifted my hands up in surrender

"Fine," I said, "I won't prod my nose into it anymore." James smiled warmly

"Thanks Ariana," he said. I would have smiled back if I didn't hate him so much.

"So! On a brighter note, how's Quidditch practice going?" Sirius asked eagerly. I l stared at him, unimpressed for a moment before turning away "Please stop bumping into me," I said as I walked past him "See you in class Ariana!" he cried.

I sat Transfiguration with a piece of parchment in my hands. "Okay," I said, looking at the things I'd written "So we know it's got something to do with animals, something to do with hurting Remus regularly - but nobody wants to hurt him – it's like they can't stop it."

"Beats me," Yelena said, shrugging

"If you remember," I said, "Sirius said, they needed something to do with animal forms to 'take care of him'."  
"How could you remember that?" Cleo asked, surprised

"I learnt it from the Midnight Dagger," I said, shrugging. Without thinking twice, I made Wendy Gold's teacup explode into flames in front of her face because she'd just tried to slip a frog down Eugene's robes. Professor McGonagall didn't seem to think anyone caused it. "People turning into animal forms," Cleo said, "Like an animagus?"  
"I thought you were born an animagus," Yelena said, confused.

"That doesn't make sense," I said, "Why on earth would turning into an animal help Remus?" Cleo shrugged "It was just a suggestion," she said. I sighed and put my head on the table, this was so hard to figure out.

Defence against the Dark Arts was with the aurors again and I could feel Ericson's eyes on me the entire time. For the first time I was glad of Sirius' presence near me. It was embarrassing that I thought of him as protection, but at least with him he could warn someone if Ericson was going to hex me. With Ericson around me, I couldn't concentrate properly and my Patronus was nothing but mist, but I didn't care. I was going through defence combinations I could use against him in my head. Yelena seemed to notice his gaze because she bravely came and began practicing near me so that if anything happened she could help me in a heartbeat.

Weeks past and Remus didn't come back to the hospital wing. All I did was continue leaving on weekends and going to see X at the Midnight Dagger. I was getting much better at tailing people, picking up information and tracking people, which was the skill I was mastering now. I had finished third year's work load and was now going back into first year spells to revise for the exams. Something I learnt during this month was I was a lot better at mental work then physical work. It was only due to the result of my training that I could fight as well as I did, but I felt much more at home with a book. Ericson lost interest in me after a few weeks and I could focus more on my happy memories and six weeks till the exams, I finally conjured up a full Patronus. I had thought about camping at the Quidditch World Cup with the Blacks and Malfoys. Marcel, Regulus, Sirius and the twins were so excited about it that I had thought they would explode off their seats. It was so real because it related to now. Sirius and Regulus were still as Quidditch crazy as they were back then and it was that connection that made me so happy "_EXPECTO PATRONUM_!" I cried and practically threw all my emotions into the spell. Immediately my wand had exploded out a huge amount of light and instead of misting about everywhere, it was concentrated into the very middle where at first it was a ball, then enormous wings thrust out and a Griffon cried out in the centre of fleeing first years. I managed to maintain it for – about a second before a blacked out and when I woke, I was the envy of first years and most of the second years. A Griffon, that was my animal form. It made sense as to why Cairo was so calm around me. Maybe I gave off the scent to him. I was actually incredibly proud that my animal form was something as powerful as a griffon. It would have been rather embarrassing to have a mouse or grasshopper. Much to my dismay the next class, Professor Hughes didn't let me leave class even though I'd perfected the spell and told me to do it again, without blacking out. I sighed and didn't even bother trying to do the spell, instead I watched Sirius, who was getting very good. "You know when I found out you were a griffon, you're reputation in my books increased about ten fold," Sirius said, "I mean, you being a Gryffindor makes so much more sense." I rolled my eyes

"Being a griffon and being a Gryffindor are two completely different things," I grumbled

"They both have griffon in it," he said

"How is it that you're second in the whole class?" I cried, voicing one of my jealousies of Sirius Black. He did nothing and was behind me in ranking. He grinned "I'm Sirius Black," he said. I rolled my eyes and leaned back as he grinned "Ready to get amazed?" he asked

"It's going to fizzle out," I said

"Let's have a bet," he said.

"No," I said, immediately

"Someone's a chicken," he said

"A fire-breathing chicken if you're not careful," I growled and he burst into laughter. He turned and thought of something before crying out "_EXPECTO PATRONUM_!" suddenly, out of his wand, a dog bounded out barking and running around. The Gryffindor's around him laughed as Sirius commanded his dog to go in the crowd and it bounded around entertaining everyone before fizzling out. What angered me was he didn't black out. He had a few beads of sweat but that was all. Professor Hughes praised him generously and James ruffled his hair. Class ended like that and I went over to him "A dog? How fitting," I said. He grinned

"Jealous?" he asked. I thought of what Cleo had said in Transfiguration then turned to him

"So if you're Patronus is a dog, does that mean your Animagus would also be a dog?" I asked. His back muscles tensed for a microsecond and I saw his breathing pattern change slightly in recognition "I guess so," he said and I could also hear the tone change. Cleo was right, whatever they were doing had something to do with Animagi "I guess I-" he began

"You'd better be going?" I asked, "Please do." He looked at me carefully and I walked off to hide the fact I was grinning.

I was in the common room and was retelling the story to Cleo and Yelena. "Okay, so they have to become animals to help Remus for some reason on occasional nights," Yelena said, confused, "It still doesn't make any sense."

"Patients," I said, cheerfully, "We'll get it eventually." I was already happy with my breakthrough, but the happiness burst when I saw Severus' skin sagging off his body. "Geez, their hexes are getting high class," I muttered under my breath as I took him onto the couch and tried a few spells only to find this particular hex was resistant to quite a few counter-spells. Slytherin's laughed and I turned to them "Would you all shut up!" I snapped and they quietened, except for a cocky seventh year

"Are you going to make me _Dumbledore_?" he said. Before I could even blink, his head slammed onto the ground and he was wincing in pain "I have NEWTs," Bella said, "And if you don't keep it down, I'll show Ariana how to perform the Cruciate Curse." Bella and I both knew she couldn't give half a care for the NEWTs – apparently exams meant very little to the Dark Lord. "_Figella Bastro_!" Yelena cried and finally, Severus' skin went back to normal.

"Marauders?" I asked. Severus got up and turned to me seriously

"I'm going to make them pay," he grumbled.  
"If you need any help, ask me," I said to him. He turned and rushed off into the male dorms.

"Cleo?" I said, watching Severus go

"Yes?" she asked

"I want you to go talk to Remus – pretend to be his friend and see what you can find out," I said to her. She grinned "Consider it done," she said.

"What about me?" Yelena asked

"Keep an eye on Severus. It looks like he's going to plot something and I don't want it to get out of hand," I said. This was the seventh time in the month Severus had been attacked and it was getting more and more severe.

…

Madam Alberts had just showed me how Harper's Rose Thorns could be used to treat exploding warts and was now putting her jars back when I turned to her "Madam, I'm worried about Remus Lupin, he's a friend of mine," I began and she smiled at me

"Is he getting paler again?" she asked.  
"Yes," I lied, not knowing anything about his skin colour, "Will he be back at the hospital wing anytime soon?"  
"In a couple of weeks," she said.

"Does he come often?" I asked. She frowned and turned to me

"Dear, do yourself a favour and forget about Remus Lupin," she said.

"But I don't understand," I said, trying to look hurt. She put her hand on my shoulder

"It's best not to," she said, "Now you'd better go back to class." And ushered me off. I walked back to the common room and found Cleo and Yelena flicking through Witch Weekly. "Cleo, any luck with Remus?" I asked her. She didn't look up

"Please, don't insult me by even suggesting I failed," she said. I sat next to her

"Have you noticed him going paler?" I asked her.

"I have," she said, looking confused

"Madam Alberts said he might," I said, "And that he's coming in to hospital in a couple of weeks."  
"If they already know that, whatever happens to Remus must be a set thing," Yelena said.

"Okay, so something happens to Remus at a set time that he can't control and hurts him and the other Marauders turn into animals to help him," Cleo said.

"Things just don't happen at a set time, something sets them off," I said.

"Well it's not like they're exposing him to it intentionally," Yelena said, "And everyone seems to already know about it if Madam Alberts know about it."  
"Bella, is anything happening two weeks from now?" I asked her.

"One of Slughorn's parties," she said, looking up from a book she wasn't even pretending to read. No, that couldn't be it. I racked my brain for any information I'd lost "Cuts – the cuts on his skin," I said, slowly, "Those small scratches – they can't be done by running around in Hogwarts. He's running near a lot of branches," I said

"He goes to the Forbidden Forest," Cleo said. I bit my lip and looked at Bella who was ripping pages out of her book and throwing them at people. "Bella, is it true there are Death Eaters in the Forbidden Forest?" I asked. She grinned

"Not in the sense Dumbledore thinks so," she said, "They scout the perimeter but they apparate soon after."  
"Anything big happening in two weeks?" I asked her

"Why?" she asked

"I was thinking of going into the Forbidden Forest for some Midnight Lily," I said. Midnight Lily was a type of flower that only bloomed at midnight and it was well known to grow in the Forbidden Forest. "I wouldn't go to the Forbidden Forest in two weeks," a sixth year said, whom I knew was good at making potions and went to the Forest regularly for material. "Why's that?" I asked him.

"It's a full moon in two weeks and I could have sworn last full moon I heard a werewolf somewhere in the forest," she said. I slapped my head, how could I have been so stupid – Remus Lupin was a werewolf. The answer had been staring me right in the face. "Ariana, are you okay?" the sixth year asked. "Fine," I said, quickly

"If you want Midnight Lily, I'll be more than happy to get some for you," he said

"No," I said, quickly, "I'll just buy it from the store." I got up and signalled for Cleo and Yelena to follow me up into the dorms. "He's a werewolf," Cleo said. I sighed

"How anti-climatic," I grumbled

"What do you mean?" Yelena squeaked, "Aren't you frightened?"  
"I know plenty of werewolves over at the Hog's Head. They tend to strap themselves down for the full moon, but apart from that, they're as boring as any other witch or wizard," I said, "I was hoping for him to turn into something a lot cooler – like a troll or something." I lay on my bed feeling unsatisfied, what a stupid secret! "Look on the bright side Ariana," Cleo said, sitting on my bed, "Maybe you can blackmail him with this." She had a point. I smiled

"That is a good point," I said. Remus Lupin, the quiet one of the group – probably trusted with all their secrets. Using Remus like a puppet would surely bring the Marauders down. I felt myself warm to the idea and rolled onto my side, but Cleo wasn't there. She jumped onto my bed and showed me a picture of a large, scenic home "What's this?" I asked her

"A house," she said, "Bought it really cheap actually – it's in a developing wizarding suburb which is near the Ministry of Magic. I was thinking of using the money left over to turn it into apartments, which means I could probably make ten times the money I used to buy it, off it, then I can pay you back – or buy you a really nice house and still have plenty of money to buy more houses."

"Cleo, you could have lost all that money in gambling for all I care, you don't need my approval to use it," I said, burying my head into my pillow.  
"I wasn't looking for your approval, I was showing off!" she cried and I laughed at her

"It's amazing, you're brilliant Cleo, really! You'll be the youngest billionare ever!" I cried sarcastically and she hit me with a pillow as I laughed at her. "On a different note, do you know what you'll be doing on the holidays?" Yelena asked, jumping on me.

"Spending it with Uncle – probably for more training and visiting the Blacks hopefully, why?" I asked, "Can I come to your house?"

"The door's open any time," Yelena said, "But I was actually hoping to go to a couple of the Witch Fashion Weeks around the world and we could use that necklace you have…" I laughed at her

"If I can't go, I'll send it to you via Cairo so you can," I said

"It's no fun if I'm going alone! What the heck are friends for?" she asked. I grinned

"Alright, alright!" I said as she swatted me with a pillow, "Come on! I'm fragile! Would you stop attacking me!" This resulted in a war which was so tiring we ended up all sleeping in the same bed in our uniforms.

…

Throughout the weeks that followed, people began worrying about the exams coming up and more and more people began perfecting the Patronus Charm. There were some first years who just couldn't get it at all, but at least half of us had some sort of animal appearing in their charms. What was concerning me most was Severus Snape. He would go out at night and wouldn't come back till the early hours of the morning. I knew he was going to get himself into trouble so I tailed him like I did people on the weekends. There was no missing the fact he was going up to the Gryffindor tower. He suddenly swerved out of the way and I moved behind a suit of armour. "…okay, so we'll get a couple of steak and kidney pies, chocolate cake, baked potatoes and a jug of butterbeer," I could hear James Potter's voice list. He walked right past me with the other Marauders. "What about some chocolate?" Remus said

"You go crazy for that stuff Moony," Sirius said as they went down the stairs and their voices muffled again. I waited a moment, then saw Severus walk back down the stairs we'd come from. So he was tailing the Marauders. I waited for him to go back down the stairs before moving from the suit of armour and following him. He didn't even bother to check his back as he made his way down to the kitchens. I had half a mind to leave him be and go back to the dorms, but I followed him anyways. He waited out by the kitchen, but opened the painting that led to it, to hear what the Marauders had to say. I sat down, not bothering to really care about not being seen. I could be waving my hands right now and he wouldn't see me. I almost went back to sleep on the step I was waiting on, but Severus jumped out of the way and I stood up and moved behind a pillar. "Come on Remus, you gotta eat before tomorrow," James was saying. I saw three Marauders move past me, but Sirius wasn't anywhere to be seen. Tomorrow was the full moon and Remus would transform into a werewolf. I moved away from the pillar and looked back at the portrait, waiting for Sirius to come out. Severus appeared too quickly and as he moved toward the portrait, Sirius jumped out and had his wand pointing out to Severus in a flash "Well hello there Snivellus," he sneered, "Been putting your nose into our business again have you?"

"I know you're up to something Black and when I find out what it is, I'll tell everyone!" Severus cried. Sirius barked a laugh "Was that supposed to scare me?" he asked, "Gosh with the amount of grease on your nose, you left a trail behind you when you followed us."

"Shut it Black," he snapped,

"Or else what?" Sirius asked, stabbing his wand deeper into Severus' chest. I gripped onto my own wand a little tighter. "You know what Severus? I'm going to do you a favour and tell you what's wrong with Remus," he said, "And you can go tell the world after you're done because I don't really care. Tomorrow, go down to the Whoomping Willow and press the knot on the branch. It'll paralyse the tree and you'll be able to see a whole under the roots. Climb in there and you'll find out our big secret," he said, laughing, "_Stupefy_!" He kicked Severus once more as Severus hit the floor before walking off, quite cheerfully. Severus was embarrassed enough as it was, I wasn't going to go up to him and announce I'd just seen the entire thing. I walked back to the dorms, frightened. I'd been holding onto hope that Sirius was different to what I thought he was, but not even some of the criminals in the Hog's Head took an eleven year old kid and lead him to a werewolf to be attacked. I went to my bed and lay down, but I couldn't sleep. I had to make sure Severus would not go near the Whomping Willow tomorrow.

Hope you guys enjoy this chapter!

_To the anonymous reviewer: Thank you for your review! I was worried people were getting bored...and this may sound bad, but I'm happy you cried! (Don't judge me, read on!) because I was really trying to make it as emotional as I could and it's nice to know it worked! So Ariana's hit rock bottom and now there's nowhere else to go but up...or is there?_


	16. Chapter 16

Classes ended and I could barely see Severus for more than a second let alone actually grab him. He was always so quick to dart in and out of places. I was about to give up when I heard Lily Evans' familiar voice and saw the two of them out in one of the courtyard's lapping up the warm spring afternoon. "Severus, there you are. I was hoping to speak to you," I said. He looked down at Lily

"I'm kind of busy," he said

"So am I," I said, my eye twitching at being turned down, "But it's urgent."

"You should go," Lily said, softly and smiled warmly at me. I had to stop myself from rolling my eyes, but I waited patiently for Severus to come over to me. I moved away from Lily and pushed him into an empty corridor "I heard Sirius has told you to go to the Whomping Willow," I said. His eyes widened and his lips tightened "Save it," I said, quickly, before he could speak, "All I'm here to do is tell you not to go. Remus is a lot more dangerous than you think and I'm warning you that it'll be a lot safer if you just stay in bed and forget about the Marauders and Remus," I said. I couldn't tell him that Remus was a werewolf. I knew a few friendly werewolves and I knew it would hurt them if the world found out who they were. What would result was spending the rest of your life moving around and never finding a job and as much as I hated the Marauders, Remus wasn't that bad – after all he hadn't lured Severus to meet him when he changed did he? "But if I find out their secret, I can finally get rid of them," Severus cried

"No, you won't," I said, "We need to work on this slowly and steadily."  
"You're just saying that because you don't want to hurt your precious Sirius anymore, right?" he cried. I looked up at him, surprised "What?" I cried

"I've seen the way you look at him," Severus said, "The first time you got the Patronus Charm, you were looking at him! You love him!"

"That's absurd," I cried, "Listen to me Severus, I want to get rid of them as much as you do, but you need to be patient. You're just going to get hurt if you go tonight."  
"Whatever, I don't need your help," he said, walking around me and leaving. I was so angry! I grabbed my wand and caused the stone of the castle to crack and break – only for it to be repaired in seconds thanks to the spells that keep the castle together. Even for all my anger at Severus right now, I still couldn't actually wish it upon him to be bitten by a werewolf. It seemed there was only one way to stop him and that would have me follow him to the tree.

…

"Where are you going?" Cleo asked. I didn't want them involved. If anyone was going to get bitten by this stupid plan, it should be me or Severus for actually going along with it. "Uncle needs me," I lied.

"Oh," Cleo said, "Is he finally taking you somewhere other then Sicily?"

"I don't know," I said, putting on my boots and putting a cloak on. I looked at my reflection. If I went out as Ariana, Severus would get mad again. This called for the real me. I spun it anti-clockwise and pulled my bushy hair into a pony tail. "See you tomorrow," Cleo said

"Yeah take care," Yelena said, settling into bed

"Thanks," I said, before walking downstairs only to find Severus had already gone. I cursed under my breath and checked my wand was in my pocket before running out of the dungeons and out of the castle. The full moon was definitely out and there wasn't a cloud in sight to cover its glow. I sped up a little more, but these legs were shorter and I was a lot less athletic. I would have to use magic and smarts to get Severus out safely.

I got to the Willow and tried to look for the knot that Sirius had talked about. The tree was eerily quiet at the moment. I walked around it, making sure not to get too close and I saw a dark gap between the roots – that would be the hole Sirius was talking about. I took a step closer to the tree… maybe I could just slide in. Suddenly the entire tree collapsed forward and I shrieked as I jumped back, narrowly missing its deadly branches. It got back up and went quiet again, waiting for me to come closer once more. I desperately looked at its branches and finally spotted the knot. It was quite close to the ground. I took a deep breath, standing up and with all my might ran for the knot. The Willow snapped around and a large branch slammed into my stomach, knocking the wind out of me and carried me around and around. I could hear a cry from someone below ground and forced air back into my lungs and pushed myself closer to the middle of the tree and stretched my arm out and managed to touch the knot. It stopped immediately and I was thrown down. I rolled on the ground and slipped down into the hole, face first. I lay there for a moment, catching my breath and spitting dirt out of my mouth. "AHHHH!" I heard Severus cry. I jumped onto my feet and ran through the hole – only to find it turned into a house of sorts. I ran down a flight of stairs and saw light pour out of a room. I spun into it and gasped. There standing over Severus was an enormous wolf. It was standing on its back legs and I could see blood running down Severus' clothes. My entrance had caught its attention and it was now looking right at me. It moved and I immediately pulled my wand out "STUPEFY!" I shrieked, but the spell only pushed it back a bit. I fell back and began cowering away. Come on Adeline, think of something, I thought to myself as I looked at the drool falling out of a fanged mouth. My hand touched something on the floor and I saw a rock. I grabbed it tightly and waited for the werewolf to come closer. It brought its head closer and began sniffing me. I gripped onto the rock – 3,2…1! I slammed the rock into its face and it fell onto the ground, whimpering. I rushed into the room and over to Severus "Come on Severus, are you okay? Did you get bitten?" I cried, shaking him. He looked pale and I could see he'd been clawed quite badly. He'd lost a lot of blood and he needed to get to the hospital wing quickly. "Hang in there, come on – you have to get up," I said and pulled him up, but he could barely stay awake let alone walk and his breath was coming out shallow. I heard a roar behind me and the werewolf bounded back in. I tried to grab for my wand, but I realised in horror I'd left it on the floor. I balled my fist tightly and as the werewolf was about to swipe, I rolled out of the way and kicked it's leg as hard as I could. It actually fell back in surprise and I found a bit of rope on the floor and lunged at it and grabbed it before quickly jumped onto its back and wrapped it around its neck and tried to choke him just so he could black out – but I was stupid. This wasn't some street fighter, this was a bloody werewolf. It cut the ropes with its claws and slashed me off its back. I slammed onto the floor and my back seared with pain from his claws, but I got up, I had to protect Severus. It lunged for me, with its mouth and I moved out of the way and brought my knee up to his throat. It rolled away, whimpering in pain and my own knee was hurting from its tough neck. I moved away from Severus to lure it somewhere else, but my knee gave way and I fell onto the floor. So this was it – all this training and I was going to die by a bloody eleven year old kid, I thought to myself. It aimed itself at me and I waited to feel its jaws to wrap around my neck, but as it pounced, something else slammed into its side, throwing it into the wall. I gasped as a reindeer pawed at the ground, waiting to attack again. What the heck was a reindeer… it was one of the Marauders – this was their Animagus. I didn't waste any time. I forced my body into a crawl and got to my wand on the other side of the room and muttered a healing spell for my knee to help me back onto my legs. I went over to Severus and grabbed his arm and pulled him onto my shoulder just as a dog bounded into the room, barking madly. I knew by his Patronus that was Sirius. Every part of my brain screamed at me to kick him once or twice, but I would do that after I brought Severus to safety. The process of taking Severus out of the room was painstakingly slow, but as I edged out of the room Peter Pettigrew came in "Hurry up!" he cried

"I can't!" I spat, "Help me would you?" He sighed and grabbed Severus' other arm and we managed to get back up the hole and move away from the Whomping Willow. I put Severus down as he gasped and ripped his robes open to see the gashes. He wouldn't make it to Madam Alberts. I began thinking of the healing spells I'd learnt and applied them to his wounds. I ignored the shallow cuts and only tried healing the big ones. I wasn't as good as Madam Alberts because thought the wounds closed up, there were scars everywhere. "He needs blood," I said. Severus, passed out, but I could see his breathing was regular, though shallow and he would live to Madam Alberts. I heard a roar followed by something else and a few minutes later Sirius and James came out. "Is he okay?" James asked, running up to Severus. "He's _fine_," Sirius said, running his fingers through his hair. That was it. I got up and walked right up to him and slammed my fist into his face. He fell back, grabbing his cheek in surprise "HOW DARE YOU!" I shrieked, "YOU BLOODY BASTARD! YOU ALMOST KILLED HIM!" I jumped onto him and began hitting him again and again and I could tell it hurt – after all I'd been trained to hurt. "Get her off me!" he cried and I felt arms loop around me and pull me off him. "What the hell are you even doing here?!" Sirius cried, grabbing his chin that was already beginning to swell. "I heard someone talking," I cried, "Said you'd lured Severus to get attacked by a werewolf! How could you? I can't believe you hate him enough to want to kill him!" I fell onto my legs, feeling exhaustion take me. "He wasn't going to die!" Sirius cried and I got up and looked at him fiercely  
"LOOK AT HIM BLACK! IF IT HADN'T BEEN FOR THE HEALING SPELLS, HE WOULDN'T MAKE IT TO THE CASTLE!" I roared. He looked guilty as he looked over at Severus' pale body.

"Oh," he said, shortly. I ran over to him to punch him again, but James and Peter held on.  
"Fine, let me go!" I cried and pulled them off. I got back to Severus and tried to pull him "Are you bastards just going to stand there or are you going to help me!" I snapped. They came over quickly and helped me pick Severus up and we went to the Hospital Wing. Madam Alberts opened the door and looked like she was going to have a heart attack. She quickly commanded Severus onto the bed and began reciting spells so quickly, all of it sounded like a blur. I turned and walked off, but a hand grabbed my shoulder. I turned to see James and I slammed him away "Don't touch me," I hissed

"You're injured," James said, "You're back's been completely clawed."  
"Who's fault do you think that is," I spat before turning and walking off. I went over to the girls bathrooms on the third floor and left my robes fall to the floor. "Oh, what a nasty injury," I looked up to see Moaning Mrytle floating in the air. I ignored her as I let myself bleed onto the floor. I had to come here because nobody came in here, even if it was night I didn't want just anyone seeing the kitometrix. I opened the taps and washed my face that was covered in bruises and before turning so my back was to the mirror and began aiming my wand in various places and muttering healing spells. "Ignoring me are you?" Mrytle asked, spinning around me again and again

"If you don't shut up, I'll send Peeves on you," I growled and she giggled

"As if you could command Peeves, Slytherin scum," she said. She screeched a laugh at her own joke before zooming into the toilets with a 'plonk'. I managed to heal my back well enough and cleaned my robes of blood before putting them back on and trying to clean the blood off the floor, but I wasn't too fussed as I made my way back to the Slytherin dorm and collapsed onto my bed. I couldn't remember much after that.

…

"Ariana?" my body felt like led as I forced my eyes open and was greeted with a very concerned looking Yelena. "What?" I managed to say

"You've been asleep all morning," she said, "Come on, Cleo and I prepared a healing bath for your bruises." She helped me up and into the bathroom. I didn't bother about them seeing my naked body as I stripped my tattered robes off and lowered myself into the bath. It was amazing. The water immediately began working and I could feel all my aches and pains disappear. They sat down next to the bath "Why does it look like you fought a werewolf?" Cleo asked – so they'd already guessed it. I sighed and told them the story. "I can't believe he'd do that!" Yelena cried

"You should have taken us with you!" Cleo cried, "We're not as fragile as you think!"

"Though it was pretty cool how you tried to fight a werewolf with your bare hands – definitely a story to tell the kids," Yelena said, lightening the mood.

"It would also explain why the Marauders are looking everywhere for you," Cleo said. I groaned and slipped my head under water and felt the bruises on my face begin to heal as well. When I got back up Yelena looked solemn "I can't believe they'd actually want to hurt a Slytherin enough as to want them to be bitten by a werewolf," Yelena said.

"Well it taught me better," I said, "This proves we have to destroy the Marauders."  
"Yeah," Cleo said, "Soon too, or else somebody might end up _actually_ dying." Why did death follow me everywhere, I thought to myself.

…

I visited the Hospital Wing as Ariana and saw Severus looking much better than before. Lily was doting over him and he seemed to be lapping up the attention. Remus looked incredibly guilty and continuously apologised to Severus again and again even though he, himself looked pretty terrible. I noticed an enormous bruise on his right cheek where I had slammed a rock in it. "Ariana," Severus said, surprised to see me. I looked at his face "Didn't I tell you to stay away from them?" I said, quiet enough for Remus who was in the other bed not to hear. "Did you know?" Severus asked

"Stop it Severus," I snapped, finally losing my cool, "Do you know thanks to you, Ariana was in tatters when she can into the common room last night."  
"Did you send her?" Severus asked

"Of course, because you're so damn proud you wouldn't accept help from me, I had to send her and what did she get in return for wanting to help you? Her entire back was clawed and her knee was in ruins – oh and she could have gotten turned into a werewolf. Now remember this before you go around following the Marauders like an idiot. If it wasn't for her you'd be at best a werewolf, at worse dead!" I cried. He looked guilty

"Wait, what?" Lily asked. I glared at her

"Save it Lily," I snapped and turned to Severus

"I hope you've learnt your lesson," I growled and turned and walked off. In the corridors I bumped into Sirius, I moved out of his way, but he grabbed my arm "Hey Ariana," he said and I glared at him, but he didn't blink "Come on, I was just wondering if you've seen the other Ariana anywhere," he said. "What's it to you?" I growled. I wanted to punch his face so badly right now. I could see his cheek was still brown from last night's punch. It seemed Madam Alberts had accelerated the healing process however. "I need to speak to her," he said. He still didn't know I knew Remus was a werewolf. I grabbed his collar and tightened it and he looked surprised "You hurt her last night didn't you," I hissed. He pulled my arm off his collar

"What do you mean?" he asked

"Her back was completely clawed off and she had bruises all over her face. I can't believe you actually got that violent," I cried.  
"It wasn't me!" Sirius cried, "Where is she?"  
"Don't come anywhere near her Sirius Black," I snapped and turned away and walked off

"I didn't do it Ariana! Trust me!" he cried. No, he was completely responsible for what had happened last night, I thought to myself.

I went to class and was annoyed to find the Marauders weren't letting it rest. They were going around the entire school asking if anyone had seen the other version of me. "If he draws too much attention to you, the spell on your name will go and everyone will find out you're the old Ariana too," Cleo whispered to me

"What am I supposed to do then?" I asked her

"Meet up with him, sort everything out and me and Yelena will be nearby so that we can hex him till he can't stand up ever again if he hurts you," Cleo said. I sighed, I knew I had to do something about Sirius, but I didn't want to face him. I hated him so much right now, I was afraid every time I saw him, I'd want to kill him. He was just like the aurors who had killed my family. He would grow up and become one of them. Him and the rest of the Marauders as well.

None-the-less, that night I turned into the real me and walked down the stairs to 'bump into' the Marauders. When I got down to the common room a third year stopped me "Sirius Black's looking for you," she said, "Why?" I tried to get past her, but only more people surrounded me.

"Touch her and I'll show you how the Crucio spell works," Bella's familiar voice said.  
"Her? Why do you care about her?" the third year asked.

"_Crucio_," Bella said and immediately the third year fell onto the floor and began screaming for dear life. The people around me jumped out of the way. I looked in horror at the girl who was writhing on the floor "Bella, please!" I cried and she stopped. I panted as the third year passed out.

"Don't be so weak hearted Ariana," Bella said, "That's what separates you and I." She kicked the girl and she woke up momentarily "Don't ever question me again," she spat and the girl blacked out again. Bella went back to her chair and sat down, watching the fire in the fireplace. I slowly walked around the girl and ran out of the common room and out of the dungeons.

My parents had been wrong. All the Blacks were crazy – apart from Uncle Orion and Regulus. I can't believe we used to hang out with them. But there was a part of my head asking me whether Bella had been truly wrong for using the Crucio curse. They'd wanted to attack me, why not torture them so they would never think of hurting me ever again in their lives? All of these thoughts swirled into my head as I made my way to the Hospital Wing. Sure enough the Marauders were all there - Madam Alberts, however, was not. "There you are!" Sirius cried and I whipped out my wand  
"Don't you dare come near me," I spat and he put his hands up in surrender, "What do you want with me?"

"I just want to talk," Sirius said

"Ariana, I am so sorry about what happened last night," Remus wailed.  
"Sit back down in your seat," I commanded Sirius, "NOW!" He slowly made his way back to his seat and I looked at them all wearily "What the hell are you apologising for?" I snapped, "It's Sirius who should be apologising, but he's got that damn smirk on his face."  
"Um, you know I was the werewolf right?" Remus asked, slowly

"A guide to Magical Creatures, page 231, Werewolves are not in control of their actions during a full moon nor are they conscious of what they are doing," I recited, "They can kill their own family and loved ones if they are within their proximity and by the looks of last night you've tried to get as far from Hogwarts as is possible for a student."

"Wait," James said confused, "So – you're not afraid of Remus?"  
"I know enough werewolves as is," I growled, "Boringly human."

"You know I did claw you last night," he said, darkly, "Don't you hate me?"  
"Am I pointing the wand at you Lupin," I snapped, pointing it, quite clearly at Sirius Black, "Was it you who lured Snape over to you?"  
"It was a stupid idea," Sirius said, looking at my wand  
"A stupid idea! Is that all you have!" I cried, "You were going to kill him!"

"I wasn't thinking," Sirius cried, getting up, "But he's okay now!"

"Yeah, but you won't be!" I cried

"Expelliarmus!" James shouted and my wand flew out of my hands "Would you relax?" I slammed my fist into his face and he fell back but Sirius restrained me. "Would you just listen? I'm not going hex you okay!" Sirius cried. James got up and rubbed his cheek. I managed to relax for a moment and pulled away from Sirius "Don't touch me," I hissed.

"Sirius was really an idiot for last night, but we all knew it was a mistake," James said, "IF we didn't we wouldn't have gone and saved him."  
"You're only saying that so I won't tell," I said and turned to Remus "You being a werewolf isn't my secret to tell and honestly, I don't give a rats arse either, so you can relax." I turned to Sirius, "But if you ever dare try to hurt someone like that again and I'll tell the world you're an unregistered Animagus, do you understand?" I snapped. He nodded slowly

"You guys make me sick," I hissed and went over to pick my wand up and stuffed it back in my pocket. I checked on Severus and saw him looking much better than before and sleeping peacefully. "So how did you manage to heal your back?" James asked. I glared at him

"Don't speak to me, don't come near me ever," I hissed as I walked back out of the hospital wing.

...

I hated to admit it, but Sirius did look guilty and remorseful, but it didn't stop me from hating him. I mean, it didn't make up for the fact he'd gone and done the deed in the first place. Weeks past and on the eve of exams I went over to Sicily only to find Uncle there. "What's going on?" I asked. Uncle turned to me "X says you're training's done," Uncle said

"Thank goodness," I said, glad I'd never have to return to this place ever again.  
"We could still use extra help," X said

"Not if my life depended on it," I answered quickly.

"Thanks for taking her in," Uncle said, getting up and putting down an envelope with a wad of cash in it. "Come on Katie, let's go get something to eat," he said. I followed him down the road and over to a little restaurant where we ordered dinner. "School's finishing," I told him

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about," Uncle said, "I wanted to introduce you to the Ancient Realm Ariana, but right now, things aren't working out. There's been open acceptance of the idea of ruling the wizarding world and now is definitely not the time to introduce a new gate keeper."  
"So what am I supposed to do?" I asked him  
"I was thinking of taking you back to Uncle Abe's," he said, "For the holidays so I can sort everything out."

"Oh," I said, that wasn't such a bad idea. I wanted to catch up with Uncle Abe anyways and this meant I could visit the Black's more and maybe even actually spend time with Cleo and Yelena "Ariana," Uncle snapped me out of my thoughts, "You need to break your ties with this world," he said, "They're time demanding and at time dangerous for the other person. You'll be dividing your time between the Ancient Realm and this world and isolation is best for that."  
"It's Uncle Abe, the Black Family and two friends," I said, "Trust me, I don't know many people at all and all of them are expecting to see very little of me this holidays." Uncle shrugged but didn't say anything "I'll hopefully see you during the holidays," he said. I nodded

"You should take care," I said. He smiled and ruffled my hair  
"Hurry up and eat so you can get back to school," he said.

…

Exams were surprisingly easy and I was actually pretty sure I got 100% for everything except Defence Against the Dark Arts. On the last week everyone was upset they had to leave, but I was overjoyed. I couldn't wait to get as far away from Gryffindor, the Marauders and even myself – or the fake me. "Congratulations on graduating," I said to Bella and handed her a bouquet of flowers. She took them

"Are you coming for the ceremony after?" she asked. Seventh years would stay for a little longer to take pictures and have the graduating ceremony. "I can't," I said, "But I'm happy for you that you get to leave – and I can honestly say I can't wait till I get out of here." She grinned

"I can tell you, it feels pretty amazing knowing the next time you see a Gryffindor it'll be at the end of a wand," she said and even though what she was saying was dark, I laughed anyways.  
"I guess I am a little sad," I admitted, "I kind of liked spending time with you in the common room."  
"Oh please, save me from the sop story," Bella said, grinning, "I'm not dying! You can see me during the holidays – or if you want to see me that badly, join the Dark Lord. You'll see me plenty then." I laughed at her and nudged her playfully. "Love you Bella," I said and she sighed and hugged me

"I love you too, are you happy now?" she asked, "Gosh you're just as needy as you were back then." I put my hand out playfully "Where's my chocolate frog?" I asked her and she pushed me away shaking her head "Can't believe you'll be my replacement in Slytherin," she said, "Well, hopefully Regulus will be able to help you out." I beamed, that was right, next year Regulus would join me at Hogwarts. "Earth to Adeline," Bella said, smirking, "Remember, producing an heir out of wedlock doesn't count." She practically sung. I blushed  
"Trust me, we're not as perverted as you," I mumbled and she laughed  
"All it'll take is a couple of years and you'll start looking at each other differently," she said and winked, "Pity I won't be there to pull you two apart – oh well! Better tell Aunt Walberga she'll be getting the next heir a little earlier than expected!" I turned even red and chased Bella down the corridor crying out for her to shut it as she sung about the two of us at the top of her lung and that was how I spent the last day as a first year at Hogwarts.

…

"Okay," I said, "Owl me as often as you can."

"Life at home is so boring, visit as often as you want – as often you can actually!" Yelena cried

"That goes for me as well, though I might be busy repairing those apartments without my parents actually knowing I own them," Cleo said, thoughtfully.

"You'd better go," I said looking at the train that was about to depart. Cleo sighed and hugged me tightly "I'd better see you soon," she said before Yelena threw her arms around me  
"Yeah, really soon," she said before the two of them got on the train. Okay, so those two were about the only things I'd miss during the holidays I thought to myself. I waved them off as the train began speeding pass and when they were gone, I grabbed my trunk and went over to the Hog's Head. I put my things down before going back to the familiar bar and seeing Uncle Abe working. "Hello Uncle Abe!" I cried, cheerfully and hugged him

"Ariana? I thought you were at school," he said

"School finished today – couldn't you hear the celebrations and the students?" I asked him. I pulled on an apron and sat on a stool "I can help you out now," I said, smiling, "I missed you."  
"Yeah, why don't you get those firewhiskey glasses and take them to table eight?" he said. I sighed and got back into the rhythm of the bar. I could see that half the bar was filled with new faces. Some of the aurors stuck out like a sore thumb. "You must be the bartender's niece," I turned to see a face I'd only seen once in my life and Uncle Abe had told me to stay away from him. Fenrir Grayback. "I am," I said, shortly

"Mm, the sweat smell of little girl flesh," he said, taking in a long whiff

"If you aren't going to order something, then please leave," I said, shortly and he laughed a throaty laugh "Actually I've heard you do missions for money," he said, slowly.

"What is it you want done?" I asked him

"Meet me outside the shop in an hour," he said, winking

"If you want to drink in my bar, you'll do no such thing," Uncle Abe boomed over me. I shrugged

"Sorry mister," I said, casually and turned and walked off. Uncle Abe grabbed my arm and pulled me to the corner "Ariana, the bar is no longer safe for you, you have to leave," he said

"What? I only just got here today!" I cried

"Look at me Ariana, I love you very much, but at the moment the bar isn't safe for a little girl," he said, "You can't stay here."  
"But this is my home!" I cried, "Where else am I supposed to go?"  
"Don't you have a friend who could take you in?" he asked. It was embarrassing how quickly tears fell out of my eyes as I nodded and sniffled "Ariana, I don't want you to leave, but your safety is more important to me. Right now this place is crawling with not only Death Eaters but also criminals beyond that who would be more than happy to kidnap a little girl like you. You have to leave," Uncle Abe said. I nodded "I understand," I said as I went back to my room and grabbed my things. Uncle Abe hugged me before pushing me over to the fire place to floo into my friend's house. I grabbed tightly onto my things before yelling out the address of the House of Black and throwing the green powder into the fire place. Immediately, I began swirling and ended up landing on my butt in the grand fireplace in the kitchen of the House of Black and frightened Kreacher so badly he teleported to the top of the cupboard. I thought I'd be happier coming here, I thought to myself as I got up and dusted myself off…

* * *

_AAAAANNND that's the end of first year! Hehehe, cliffhanger!_

_Anyways, thanks to K, Anon, Lily and Naflower05 for your reviews! You guys are so sweet, you make me sooo happy! And to answer your question hopefully, I will go through each year in as much detail as this, but the framework of the story is already in my head and some years won't be as detailed while others will be and they'll be detailed in different things...for example her role as a gatekeeper or her own growth as a person or her life in Hogwarts! You're just going to have to tune it!_

_Love you guys!_


	17. Chapter 17

"Mistress Westwood," Kreacher cried

"It's Adeline and I'm not your mistress," I said, getting out of the fireplace, but I was grateful when he took my trunk and belongings and disappeared to put them into my room before appearing again "Perfect timing young mistress, the Master is eating dinner," Kreacher said, grabbing my hand and pulling me in excitement to the dining room. I opened it and was surprised so see it so empty. Usually when I'd come to the House of Black some celebration was going on, so I was used to seeing most of the pureblood family's concentrated in one place, but at the moment, it was Regulus and his parents and Lucius' uncle. "Adeline!" Regulus cried and got off his seat and threw his arms around me. I hugged him tightly "Surprise," I said, grinning as he let me go and Uncle Orion beckoned me into his embrace. See, at least I'm loved here, I thought bitterly as I air kissed Aunt Walberga's cheek. "Sit down Adeline," Uncle Orion said and I did as I was told. Kreacher brought out chicken soup and I ate it gratefully. "Manners," Aunt Walberga said, but Uncle Orion glared at her

"Please Walberga, she's been through enough," he said, quietly and she shrugged, but looked angry. I pushed my elbows off the table and tried to eat like a human being. "Will you be staying the night?" Uncle Orion asked

"Actually," I said, slowly, "It's not safe at the Hog's Head anymore and I was actually wondering if I could spend my holidays here." Orion smiled warmly at me

"Of course! I was actually hoping to have you for the entirety of the break," he said. I grinned

"Thank you so much Uncle Orion," I said, "I'll make it up to you."  
"Adeline, it insults me that you think you have to make anything up to me. We're family," he said. I smiled. He was right, _this_ was my family.

"Okay, so first things first, we need to get your broom skills up to scratch," Regulus said as we ascended the stairs "Then maybe you can teach me how to be a proper pure blooded lady," I said to him and he grinned "In return you have to teach me some spells," he said

"Fine, but we can't practice them, it's against school policy," I said and he smiled

"Sure if I use my _own_ wand," he said.

"What do you mean?" I asked, confused

"Underage magic is detected by the wand you use. If I use my dad's wand nobody's going to know I've been using underage magic," he said. I didn't even know that

"Oh – that's pretty cool," I admitted. I stopped at the door to my room

"Oh come on Adel, you aren't really going to sleep _now_," Regulus said and pulled on my arm to go to his room. I followed him up higher "When's Bella going to come home?" I asked him

"Apparently graduation takes the whole weekend," Regulus said, "They'll be home on Monday and that's when we'll have the graduation ball – you're my partner, okay?"  
"Okay," I said, cheerfully as we climbed up some more steps and got to Regulus' room. Suddenly, a door on the higher level was slammed and I jumped and almost toppled off the steps if it hadn't been for Regulus catching me. "Here he comes," Regulus muttered as he opened his own door

"Who?" I asked, confused

"Sirius," he said. Way to go Adeline, you idiot, I thought to myself. Here I was, supposedly, some hot shot assassin when I missed out some of the most important details. It was the holidays, which meant Sirius Black was at home – and this was his home as a member of the Black Family. "Who've you got there Regulus," I heard him call. I actually seriously considered making a dive for Regulus' room and shutting the door, but I thought better than to look like a coward and turned to face him "You!" he cried, surprised and rushed down the steps two at a time to finally get to me "What are you doing here?" His voice was so loud compared to Regulus'

"Leave her alone Sirius," Regulus said, stepping between us.  
"What's she doing here?" Sirius asked, confused.

"She's living with us," Regulus explained

"What? Why?" he asked, incredulously. Oh gosh, how was I supposed to explain this?  
"You honestly don't remember?" Regulus asked, taking a step towards Sirius. Oh no, I thought to myself "It's Adeline!" Regulus cried

"Who?" Sirius asked, "I don't know what she's told you, but her name's Ariana – Ariana Dumbledore."  
"Look at her Sirius, look at her carefully, it's Adeline Westwood," he said. Sirius' face fell and he turned to look at me. I sighed, there was no point hiding it any longer. It wasn't like I could keep it a secret from him now that his entire family knew "You've changed a lot Sirius," I said. I could see recognition in his eyes, which turned to confusion, sadness and anger. "You're supposed to be dead," he said  
"I'm the unlucky one who survived," I said, shrugging,

"Don't say that Adeline," Regulus said, frowning.

"It's good to see you've turned into a jerk Sirius," I said, glaring at him, but I ended up softening to him when I saw how upset he was. "It-it can't be. You died, three years ago – the aurors…"  
"They ambushed my family and killed them in cold blood," I said, "They thought I was dead too, but they'd only knocked me out."  
"No," he said, shaking his head, "You're father – he hated muggles. He used to torture them - the aurors, they came and tried to reason with him, but he ended up blowing up his own home – he killed Marcel and Callum – and you."  
"You don't really believe that do you?" I asked, "I was there Sirius. We were celebrating my dad's birthday. We had a cake and everything. They broke in and shot my father down in front of me, then my mother. Then they hunted us all down, one by one in the field outside – the one you used to play Quidditch over and killed us all." His face hardened

"No it was all your father's fault! Pure bloods with their stupid ideas. Your father shot you all down," he said

"You knew my father," I cried, "Do you really think he was capable of killing Lucy?"  
"Yes," he said. I swung my hand back and slapped him hard

"Don't you ever speak about my father like that ever," I hissed. He grabbed his cheek and looked at me hard before snorting "You turned out into the perfect little pureblood didn't you Adeline. Probably why I didn't recognise you," he said

"Yeah and you've turned into the perfect jerk. Marcel would be proud," I said, sarcastically as I turned and walked down the stairs and into my own room. I fell onto my bed and cried, thinking of the ways my father's name had been ruined.

I woke up to find Regulus in my room "Reg, you're still a boy. You have to get out," I said, while my eyes were closed. "How else am I supposed to wake you?" he asked, "Come on, I want to teach you how to ride a broom." I groaned and pulled my covers over my face, but he pulled them down "Come on," he said. I sighed and got ready and joined him downstairs for breakfast.

"Morning Uncle Orion," I said, cheerfully. He smiled and kissed me on the forehead

"Morning sweetheart," he said. I took in a whiff of his scent and smelt my father. The door was kicked open and Sirius came in "Use your hands," Aunt Wal growled, but he ignored her and sat down on the seat in front of me. He began eating his toast and unabashedly stared right at me. I realised it would take a lot longer for Sirius to come to grips with the fact I was actually an old, dead family friend. I jumped off my seat "I'm going flying with Regulus now, if that's okay," I said to Aunt Wal

"Be careful," Uncle Orion said and patted his heart. I nodded and followed Regulus to get our brooms. Sirius was amazingly waiting for us below with a broom at hand. "I'm coming," he said. Regulus shrugged "Suit yourself," he said as we walked outside and began walking away from the house. "Adeline," Sirius said softly. I turned to him surprised  
"What?" I asked him. He looked up at me and looked broken

"If you're alive, that could mean Marcel's alright too, right?" he said. I hadn't expected him to ask. I looked down at my feet "He's not. He died next to me," I said, quietly and sped up the pace. He did care, he was just so twisted in his way of thinking – no, not just in his way of thinking. Sirius was very twisted, after the werewolf incident that much was known.

We got to a large park and Regulus mounted his broom "Okay," he said, "So you push up off the ground."  
"I know how to hover in the air," I said rolling my eyes. I jumped onto my broom and pushed off. Immediately I was up in the air, hovering. "Great, now you push your body weight to the side to turn left or right and you lean forward for down and backwards for up – got it?"  
"Yeah it sounded that easy in the books too," I said. Regulus grinned

"We can take it slowly," he said. Regulus was actually an amazingly patient and wonderful teacher. He went through the motions and after an hour, I could actually turn properly and I was flying well – for a ninety year old grandmother. Sirius zoomed between us and began circling us "I'm getting bored Reg, hurry up so I can play Quidditch," he cried. He was like a child with a desperate plea for attention. "You go play with him, I'll practice on my own," I said.

"Okay, but take it slow," he said. I agreed and he zoomed off to Sirius and the two of them became blurs, while I went at about two kilometres an hour. As I flew over the muggle houses around us with the wind sweeping through my hair, I felt the oddest feeling of freedom – like nothing could harm me. Was this why my brother's had loved flying so much? Even Hazel loved it and she was always so worried about her hair. I saw Regulus and Sirius in the distance chasing each other and turned back to face the front – how did you make a broom go faster? I leaned forward a little bit and suddenly it dived straight down to the ground. "AHH!" I shrieked and pushed the nose back up. It swooped away from the ground and began rising vertically in the air. I gripped onto the broom for dear life and pushed on it and actually managed it to straighten out to a stop. I was gasping as I looked around the sky "Adeline!" I turned to see Regulus flying at full speed to me "Are you okay? Oh my gosh, this is all my fault!"

"I'm fine Regulus – actually that was a little exhilarating," I said. He pursed his lips

"Come on, get onto my broom, I think that's enough flying for you," he said. I shakily moved onto his broom and held onto mine as he smoothly glided through the air and back to the park we'd been playing at. "How come you're so good," I said as I got off his broom. My legs gave way and I landed on my bum as he laughed at me "You should have seen Marcel, he would have gone pro, if he…" he began. The mood sobered and I realised one of the down sides of being with the Black's was constant reminder that my family was dead. "I'm sorry Adel," Regulus said, though he looked upset himself. "It's alright," I said, getting up onto my feet, "I do like flying, I'm sure if I try hard enough I'll get good at it."

"Maybe you're thinking too much about it," Regulus said, "Flying's just something you do – you need to forget about the technique."  
"Yeah, okay," I said, grabbing my broom as Sirius dropped elegantly onto the floor. He didn't say anything to me, instead he walked away from me and I was fine with that.

"Come on Adeline," I gave Regulus one more look of despair before following Aunt Walberga down the stairs and out the door. I had to buy a new dress for the graduation ball. Girls say they hate dress shopping, but I didn't hate the actual art of it – more the fact that nothing would look flattering on me in this form and I would have to stare at myself in the mirror each time and it would eat away at my self-esteem. You could see I'd been dreading about it for some time now. "In you go," she said and got me into a very nice antique Aston Martin. I climbed in as elegantly as I could and obviously she noticed because she gave me one of her approving nods. "Are we going to Diagon Alley?" I asked her.

"Goodness no," she said, "We're going to Westminister Valley." I'd never been there before – heck I didn't know it existed, apart from a hunch that it was probably somewhere in Westminister. I sat quietly next to my stiff Aunt Wal as we began flying over to our destination.

It turned out Westminister Valley was nowhere near Westminister. We got to an open wizarding square somewhere far from London and a house elf opened the door for me. I got out followed by Aunt Walberga and followed her quickly to the closest store. "Walberga dear," someone in a pinched and high accent said. Air kisses were given and I looked at the clothes around me. Oh gosh, I was going to look hideous, was all I could think of. Aunt Walberga pulled me over to the shop owner and introduced me, thankfully as Ariana and asked for me to be dressed. Being a proper shop owner, she went straight to the most expensive rack and began piling out the dresses, not actually caring whether it would look good on me or not. Thankfully, Aunt Walberga obviously had somewhere else to be because she glared at the dresses as if she were going to burn a hole in the bad ones with her eyes and tossed them aside and left me with gowns that would have looked beautiful on the other Ariana. I took off my clothes in the mirror and looked at myself naked. I'd gotten healthier that was for sure. It was all the training from martial arts and the food that was plenty at Hogwarts and the circles around my eyes were less noticeable, but I would never actually be called beautiful ever. I was just a rather plain girl. I put on the dress and came out. "You look wonderful," the woman said and I ignored her just as plainly as Aunt Walberga did.

"Try the blue one," she said, immediately and I turned and walked back into the change room and did as I was told.

Putting on dresses and taking them off was actually an exhausting experience. We went to seven other stores before Aunt Walberga was pleased with a white dress she found. I sat down, exhausted before she snapped at me to get up and we went shoe shopping. It never ended it seemed, but after all that shopping Aunt Walberga actually sat down in an expensive looking café and decided to have tea with me. "How is school?" she asked, trying to make small talk,  
"Fine, I'm top of my class in Potions and Charms," I said, brightly

"And Transfiguration?" she asked. Were all the Black women so perfectly unsatisfied with everyone? "Second in Transfiguration and fourth in Defence Against the Dark Arts," I admitted

"Who are you teachers?" she asked

"Transfiguration is taught by the Head of Gryffindor," I said, "And DADA is taught by Professor Hughes."  
"How is he?" she asked

"I hate him immensely," I said, "He thinks I'm the head of the Death Eater organisation at school!" I said, rolling my eyes.

Aunt Wal actually smiled "How ridiculous," she said

"I'm also the best dueller in the third years and under group in the duelling club," I said

"I didn't expect any less from you," she said sipping on her tea

"What do you mean?" I asked her

"Well considering where your blood comes from, being the top of other witches physically and mentally is to be expected," she said.

"You mean my family?" I asked, I looked down at my tea cup, "I'm worried Aunt Wal – their faces are disappearing from my mind slowly and I hate myself for being able to remember the faces of their murderers so vividly, but have theirs fading." For the first time, the usually uptight woman leaned against the table "Hazel, your sister, was a beautiful girl," she said, "Her hair would fall in ringlets and from what your mother used to tell me, all the boys in her year wanted to marry her. She was top of her classes and was captain of the water-ball team." Water-ball was another wizarding sport that was similar to soccer, but underwater and with a few other balls and special spells you could throw at your opponents. "Her death hurt Bellatrix quiet badly," she said, "Bella is the type of girl who hated everyone apart from her sisters and she had every right too, but Hazel was her best friend. As for your twin brothers, they were bludgers in the Slytherin Quidditch team and one became Captain and the other was Head Boy. There final year results had been incredible and they had already been accepted into the Ministry in a quiet high end job – gosh, I can't remember the name of the position. Marcel was already showing signs of excelling in Quidditch and Lucy was a beautiful child. If only they had been allowed to grow up." I could remember it all now, my beautiful and talented family "And then there was me, right?" I said, wondering how cruel fate could be

"You were the glue that kept them all together," Aunt Walberga said, "You know they all used to dote all over you and if I remember correctly, you used to frighten your mother by how intelligent you were in planning."  
"Planning?" I asked

"Mm, you used to excel at chess and you'd make up these elaborate plans even at six to get what you wanted, whether it be fresh biscuits from the house elves to getting your father to take you with him to work," Aunt Walberga smiled sadly, "She was a good friend of mine, your mother, I miss her very dearly."

"I wish she lived sometimes," I said, "Instead of me."  
"Don't be preposterous," she said, regaining her composure and taking a sip of tea, "Even with all her talents, your mother had a weak heart. She would have been absolutely destroyed if you had all died and she'd been left behind. They all would have – that's the problem with being so close to your family." I nodded slowly as I sipped on my tea.

We finally got back to the house and I dipped my feet into a potion Kreacher had prepared because they were killing me. Regulus came in and sat down next to me "How was shopping?" he asked

"Painful," I said, smiling, "But on the bright side, I'll look nice for the ball so you can be proud of me being your partner." He grinned

"That's good – I might have left you on the staircase," he teased. I laughed at him as he put his hand over the potion in the tub and suddenly the water began to make waves and odd shapes – like a pirate ship "That's incredible," I admitted

"Thanks," he said, "It'll all be gone when I get my wand though." That was right, between eight and eleven, magical abilities came out at random. The first time I'd ever managed to do anything magical had been that night making a shield which had result in my being here instead of Lucy. After that, my emotions had swayed my powers and most of what happened were things exploding around me when I got mad, or the atmosphere darkening when I got upset. "What are you thinking about?" he said. I shrugged

"The party tomorrow," I lied.

"Are you worried?" he asked  
"Yeah, is it family only?" I asked

"Seeing as it's Bella, yes," Regulus said, "After all she doesn't need a job after school, she's becoming a Death Eater – so nobody bothered trying to invite connections."  
"Right," I said, "Just be careful with using my last name."  
"I don't go around calling you Westwood," Regulus said, rolling his eyes. I splashed him with the potion "Don't roll your eyes at me, I'm older remember," I said, grinning. He moved his hands over the potion and it began to rise. I cried out and ran as fast as I could out the door and down the steps to avoid Regulus. He followed me with a giant bubble of water and I skidded to a stop before running into Sirius on the stair. Regulus, however, was not so lucky and Sirius ended up getting sprayed with the sweet smelling potion. I looked at him, alarmed and waited for him to pull out his wand. He glared at Regulus "What the hell was that?" he cried

"Sirius," Aunt Walberga cried from above, "Speak to your brother properly!"

"Whatever," Sirius said, shoving Regulus aside, "I'm out of here." Ever since the flying lesson yesterday, Sirius had said nothing to me. He did look at me sometimes, but that was all. He was a completely different person at home then at Hogwarts. At home, he was pathetic. It seemed like nobody at home really liked him, not even his own mother and he spent most of his time cooped up in his room away from the disapproving relatives that came in and out of this house. "Come on, let's go eat dinner," Regulus said, grabbing my hand and taking me down to the dining room. I could tell Regulus cared for his older brother, but with his entire family telling him that his older brother was a failure – and even I had told him I disliked his brother immensely - he could do nothing but try to be as far from Sirius as possible. As we sat down Aunt Walberga looked up "Regulus, please put your elbows off the dining table," she said, curtly.

"Yes mother," Regulus said, doing as he was told. Regulus had a nature where he wanted to please everybody. Regulus nudged me "What's gotten you so down?" he asked. I smiled and shook my head "Nothing," I said, chewing on my piece of meat. The Blacks had changed a lot since I'd seen them and it seemed like it had all been for the worse.

…

I stood with Regulus behind Aunt Walberga as she commanded a small army of house elves to beautify the ballroom that the House of Black had. Bella had come back from Hogwarts the night before and was pleased to see me "Almost wept when she left," she muttered to Mrs Malfoy. I gave her a pointed glance but the two of them laughed at me. "On the bright side you'll be with me next year," I said to Regulus who grinned

"I can't wait!" he cried, but I didn't really understand what he was so excited about – it was school.  
"Adeline if you're just going to sit there, why don't you help Nymphadora?" Aunt Wal said. I got up and agreed and left Regulus there. I found her in the kitchen speaking in a hushed voice to Sirius "You think so?" she asked Sirius softly. Sirius cleared his throat when he saw me and Nymphadora sat up straight "What's going on?" I asked, suspiciously

"Nothing Adeline," Nymphadora said, smiling tightly. I rolled my eyes

"You know I'm not Aunt Wal or Bella – last I checked I don't have any family to whisper all your secrets too," I said, grinning. Nymphadora paled

"What are you talking about? I have no secrets!" she squeaked when she said that and I laughed at her "Well whatever it is, last I remember about you Dora was you used to put itching powder into people's coats at parties – I honestly don't think you could do anything _that_ bad anymore," I said, laughing at the thought. She suddenly grinned

"That was Bella's idea," she said, "And Cissy was too scared to follow us."  
"You three should have been born as conjoined triplets," I said. She looked pained and I took out a tub of ice cream and sat next to her, observing her "Whatever you're secret is, it looks like you'll be disappointing the others," I said, as I took a bite of ice cream. Her face paled as she looked at me

"Stop it Adeline," Dora said. I shrugged

"Ways to insult the Black Family – becoming a blood traitor," I said slowly and I knew I hit the nail on the hammer when I said that because she looked away from me "Stop it Adeline," Sirius said, sternly  
"Oh come on, I can keep a better secret then Sirius can – gosh, he was practically screaming it out to the world that his friend had a – furry problem."  
"Yeah and you managed to keep your identity a lie to me too," Sirius growled. I glared at him

"I was going to tell you – until you jinxed me!" I cried  
"I'm only sorry I didn't jinx you enough," he growled. Dora tried to slip past us, but I grabbed her arm and pulled her back into the chair "Stop running Dora, for the sake of old times would you just sit down!" I cried. She did as she was told "Now tell me what's making you into a blood traitor?"

"Would you stop using that word!" Sirius cried. She looked away from me

"There's – my fiancé…" she said slowly

"You don't like your fiancé?" I asked, plainly, "Good heavens, does over dramatics run in this family? Can someone actually have a juicy secret?"  
"What are you talking about? My mother will disown me!" I looked at her for a bit

"Not unless you've found yourself a new partner – like a muggle born," I said, watching her carefully

"What's so bad about that?" Sirius cried, but I ignored her as Dora looked nervous, as if it was something worse. My eyes widened "A muggle?" I asked

"It's freaky how you do that you know," Sirius muttered

"Don't tell Bella," she said, urgently. Oh gosh, this was bad

"I didn't even know Black's came into contact with muggles," I said, surprised

"Oh please Adeline, please," Dora begged. She looked insane and desperate

"No, of course I wouldn't tell anyone," I said and she hugged me tightly  
"Thank you," she gasped, then let me go, "But what am I supposed to do? I mean all I've told is two eleven year olds!" I bit my lip, trying to think of a plan

"And that's all you'll tell," I said. She looked up to me, "You can't tell anyone else, especially no other pure blood, do you understand? You'll keep it a secret."  
"But how am I supposed to be with him?" she asked. I looked at her sternly

"You can't," I said, shortly, "You should break up with him and marry your fiancé."  
"What? I don't even like Goyle!" she cried

"Do you think Bella likes Rodolphus?" I asked her, "For family, there are just some things you have to do."  
"She's talking rubbish," Sirius said quickly, "You should keep him." I shrugged

"You either choose him and lose your family or you choose your family and lose him," I said, "It's as simple as that." Tears fell out of her eyes

"Choose him," Sirius said, "This family's crazy! You'll still have me!" I shrugged

"I'm not asking you who to choose, I'm just telling you the facts," I said

"No wonder I couldn't recognise you, you've turned into such a brat Adel," Sirius growled.

"I could say the same thing about you! I wonder what Marcel would say if he could see you now," I hissed. As soon as it came out of my mouth, I regretted it. Sirius looked pained, before he got up and walked off quickly. I let out a sigh and wanted to punch myself in the face. What the heck was I doing? "Please don't tell anyone," Dora said in tears. I sighed

"I said I wouldn't," I said and got up, "Listen Dora, I don't care what you chose, but I would sacrifice my entire life and everything I owned for just one minute more with my family." She hiccupped as I left the kitchen and was beckoned by Kreacher to get ready.

Standing next to Bella was by far the worst thing I girl like me could do. She was incredibly beautiful and all eyes were on her, but nobody dared to go near her. The white dress I had was literally made out of millions of snow flakes and when I spun around, they'd fall out. It would have looked incredibly on Bella. On the bright side it made me look glamorous, which was a huge leap. Regulus was standing next to me and in his smart dress robes, he looked really handsome. "Congratulations Bella," I looked up to see a man pull his sleeve up and show the Dark Mark.

"Your arm is still your only redeeming quality Bartlett," Bella said, rolling her eyes. The man didn't seem at all insulted, but gazed at Bella's face. "Want to dance?" Regulus asked. If it had been any other girl, I would have stayed to make sure they were safe from a man like him – but this was Bella. If he dared touch her, he'd get Crucio'ed between the legs. I grabbed onto Regulus' hand and he pulled me over to the musicians who were warming up. "I haven't danced in a really, really long time Regulus, go slowly, okay?" I said. He grinned and began moving through the steps. I kept my eyes firmly on his feet as I slowly shuffled along with him, but soon enough the rhythm returned to me and I could look up into his eyes and we swept through the floor "There's enough time for dancing later," one of Regulus' Aunts said, "Come along, we should eat." I followed Regulus over to a large dining room where expensive cutlery was laid out. I found my seat next to Uncle Orion. I took a deep breath and suddenly caught the scent of my father. I stopped and looked around me. Uncle Orion was in the exact same spot my father had been. I turned and instead of Regulus, I saw Callum grinning at me. I gripped the chair and closed my eyes – no, nothing would happen, this was just a celebration. Uncle Orion said for everyone to enjoy themselves and the food came out. I looked at the steak in front of me and was about to take a bite when I heard a loud noise. I jumped only to find it was a house elf who had dropped a plate. "Adeline, are you alright my dear?" Uncle Orion asked. He looked concerned "F-fine," I said, smiling, "Please eat." I forced a mouthful of steak into my mouth, my heart was pounding at a mile a minute. Bella got up and made a speech "I can honestly say I am glad Hogwarts is over," she said, "Now I am finally able to take back what's rightfully ours in the real world as a servant of the Dark Lord – who will rise up against these muggle lovers and put us back on top of the wizarding world!" Bella cried. Everyone laughed and clapped at Bella's speech  
"You can't honestly believe that," Sirius said butting in. Oh gosh, I thought to myself

"What cousin? Has Gryffindor gone to your head?" she sneered

"More like Slytherin's gotten into yours," Sirius said

"Sirius!" Aunt Wal cried, sharply

"How is the wizarding world rightfully ours?" Sirius asked, not dropping it.

"We are the direct descendants of the first wizards," one of Sirius' drunken uncles said

"So?" Sirius said

"So we're the ones that have the purest magic in our bloods. Those muggle borns aren't anything but mutts – they shouldn't even be allowed to practice magic!" Lucius' father said  
"Funny you say that, last I checked, didn't Bella get beaten at Hogwarts by a muggle born," Sirius said. A wand was suddenly flicked out and Sirius was thrown off his chair and smashed into the cabinet behind him and I could hear china break. "Bella!" I cried, "Sirius, marks mean nothing in the real world – everyone in school knew Bella was the most talented witch in the school." That was just to cool off Bella, which it did, because no matter what I would say Sirius was in so much pain right now, he wouldn't be able to hear me. "Kreacher!" Aunt Wal cried and Kreacher appeared "Get him out of my sight." I sat back onto my seat and pity filled me again. Nothing was worse than having your own mother turn your back on you. Sirius disappeared with Kreacher and the room was silent until Bella continued her speech as if nothing had happened and the rest of the family was happy enough to pretend like it hadn't happened either. "Adeline?" Uncle Orion asked

"Uncle, this night – it reminds me of the night – my father was in the same place as you," I managed to say out, "Would you mind if I take a breath outside?"

"Adeline, we can stop the party if you'd like," he said and I shook my head

"I'll be fine! I just need a couple of minutes," I said. He looked concerned but I moved out of the dining hall and went into the empty hall outside and walked up the stairs to my own room so I could wash my face in my bathroom. "Get lost! That's an order!" I could hear come faintly from the room two levels above mine. I bit my lip, Sirius was fine, I was sure of it. I went into my room and washed my face and managed to calm myself down a bit before walking back out onto the landing. It was dead silent up here and I could hear Sirius' sobs from up here. I couldn't leave him up there on his own, no matter what he'd done to me. I climbed the stairs slowly and knocked on his door "Get lost!" he cried. I slowly opened the door and peaked in and quickly ducked as a picture frame was thrown at me "What part of get lost don't you understand?" he barked.

"It's me Sirius," I said, "And I'm not leaving!" I took the break he was taking from throwing stuff at me as a window to get from the door to his bed. His room was completely different to the rest of the house. It looked so homely – if you got rid of the thousands of Gryffindor banners everywhere. "Gryffindor, the house of the brave," I muttered, taking my shoes off and lying on his bed next to him "Get away from me Adeline," Sirius growled. I grinned

"We used to sleep in the same bed you know," I said, "You me, Regulus, Marcel, Callum and Lucy."

"Sometimes Dora would come in too," he muttered after a moment of silence.

"What happened to you Sirius?" I asked

"Don't start this 'I'm disappointed in you' talk, I hear it enough from my mum," Sirius growled.  
"Who am I to you anymore Sirius," I said, "Nobody, I have no right to give you that talk."  
"Yeah, you're right. You're nothing but a stranger now," Sirius said.

"Moping around doesn't suit you," I said.

"Shut it Adeline," Sirius growled. I lay there for a moment more, looking at the giant Gryffindor banner above me. "I need to go back to the party," I said and got up. His hand grabbed my arm and I turned to see him look at me pleadingly "Don't go," he said, desperately.

"But I thought you-" I began

"Don't ask questions, just stay with me for a little longer," he said.  
"I-I don't know," I said, slowly and he looked defeated as he let go of my arm and looked away from me. He was so – pathetic and needy now. He was a completely different person then what he was at Hogwarts. I lay back down on his bed "Fine," I said, as I lay down onto his pillow "For old times sake." He suddenly turned around and put his head onto my shoulder "Thanks Adel," he said in such a way like I'd just saved his life. I slowly wrapped my arms around his head "Sh, just try to get to sleep," I mumbled and he closed his eyes and obediently tried to go to sleep. He was so fragile, I hadn't noticed. I slowly stroked his hair and he buried his head deeper into my shoulder "Everything's different now Adeline," he whispered, "It's not like before." I wanted to ask what he meant, but I turned to look at him and saw blood drizzling from his back and arms. "You need help Sirius," I said and pulled away from him, he gripped onto my tighter "You said you wouldn't go," he said, desperately. "I'm not going," I said, smiling at him, "I'm just taking care of your cuts." He carefully watched my every move, making sure I wouldn't disappear from his sight, then he obediently turned around so I could pull his shirt up and take the pieces of glass out. "If Kreacher were here, he could heal it in a second," I told him

"No Kreacher," Sirius said, stubbornly. I sighed, I guess it was the muggle way then. He winced as I began picking china out of his skin, but he didn't move. "You don't think we're more superior, do you Adel?" Sirius asked

"Someone once told me that it was the responsibility of the more powerful people to protect the weaker ones," I said, slowly, "So even if we are superior, that means we should take care of muggles, not kill them."

"Then why are you on their side?" he said. My forehead knotted as I pulled out a particularly large piece of china and Sirius began to bleed from the cut. I quickly put pressure on it, to stop the bleeding "I'm not on anyone's side," I said, "I'm just trying to survive." Silence followed and I managed to get most of the china out, but he had cuts everywhere. "Adeline?" Sirius said. It was like a little kid asking for his big sister. "I'm right here," I said, surveying the cuts and wondering where to begin "I didn't believe the daily prophet," he said, "When Marcel – died." I looked up at the mop of hair that was the back of his head "Really?" I asked, hopefully

"Not at first – but, do you remember Delilah Prince?" he asked. My uncle had married Penelope Prince and I was pretty sure Delilah had been her sister, so I was related to her by marriage. She had been a very gentle girl and loved children dearly. You had to be careful around her, she got frightened very easily. "Yeah," I said, slowly

"We went to her family's house to mourn a week after the accident. Regulus was a wreck, he didn't come," Sirius began, "I followed her over to that shed the Prince House has – right on the very outskirts of the property, by the fence we'd tried to paint a year before that. I wanted to see how she was going, you know how fragile she can be." I held my breath in, "She had muggles chained to the wall. When you walk in, you can smell crap everywhere. Some of them were dead and had fallen in their own shit and Delilah was there – she was performing the Cruciate Curse on them." He was shaking, "I told my mother and she told me to keep quiet about it. She said they were nothing but a bunch of muggles – I went to the aurors and Delilah was sent to St Mungo's. Apparently, her dad had paid the Ministry off enough so they wouldn't send her to Azkaban. When they got the muggles out, they were mentally unstable. They'd been tortured so much, they couldn't speak anymore. Out of twenty five bodies, only five of them lived and only two lived for more than a year." I brushed his hair from his face and saw tears glistening in his eyes. "My parents were ashamed that I'd gone and told the ministry and that was it. I couldn't take it anymore Adeline. I hate them. I hate all purebloods!"  
"My father didn't do anything like that," I said. Sirius got up from the bed

"You don't know that," he said, "Delilah couldn't hurt a fly, but she was torturing muggles!"

"Sirius, we explored every inch of our house, there's no way my father had muggles in our basement," I said

"All it would take was a simple diverting charm and we'd have never found the door," Sirius said. I pulled him into my embrace and in his ear, I whispered graphically what had happened that night, so that tears ran down my face that matched his "I know there are purebloods out there that torture muggles, but there are plenty of aurors out there who also torture purebloods," I said.  
"No, you're wrong," Sirius said, "Your family – they must have done something." His voice broke down and I regretted telling him. It was too much to tell him how Marcel had died. "You're wrong about my father Sirius, but I won't hold it against you," I said, "Now lie back down, I need to stop the bleeding." He did as he was told again

"I'm so lonely Adeline," he said to me, "I feel like an unwanted guest in my own home."

"I'll take care of you," I promised, "So calm down and try to go to sleep." I could feel him relax and the bleeding slowed down so that I could patch him up. He still needed a wand to cover the wounds up. When I knew he was completely asleep, I left him in the room to go find someone who could heal him. "Adeline, what happened!" Regulus cried. I'd completely forgotten about the graduation party and looked down to see blood in the snowflakes of my dress. "It's Sirius," I said, "He's bleeding a lot and he needs a wand to heal him."  
"Let him bleed," Bella scoffed, coming up to me, "He deserves it, that muggle lover."

"Bella, he's still your cousin and that's _pure_ blood that's pouring out of him," I said

"He's a blood traitor, he doesn't deserve that blood in his veins," she growled and I noticed people were listening to us. "That blood belongs to the heir of the Black Family," I said, "And it's because of that blood that I know, eventually, he'll realise his place in this world is among us and not muggles. Have some faith Bella." Nobody could protest against that logic because it was that very logic which Bella and Voldemort were fighting for and the main pure blood families lived by. "I'll go heal him squirt," Alphard Black, Uncle Orion's brother said and jumped up the stairs to his room.

"Well Bella, I want to officially congratulate you on your graduation and I would like to stress exactly how jealous I am of you. I really can't wait till I never have to see Hogwarts again – and please do tell the Dark Lord that he should hurry up and take the school for all our sakes!" I cried, causing laughter to erupt from the room and interest shifted away from Sirius. I was still so weak as I was and I knew I couldn't do anything at the moment to avenge my family, but I could do something for Marcel. I would take care of his two best friends for him and that meant making sure Sirius could at least smile while he stayed at his own home and perhaps patch up the relationship between him and his family. This didn't mean I'd forgiven Sirius for what had happened with Severus – but he needed help and for Marcel's sake I'd give it to him.

* * *

_Here's a long chapter for everyone! Your reviews were so sweet that I thought I'd better hurry up and edit it so you guys could enjoy it so thanks to Lily, Anon, Rina and F.K for your reviews and for F.K, the romance in this story is actually going to be too complicated to sum up in a sentence so you're just going to have to read on to find out...but for now Adeline's 11...so no!_

_I hope you guys enjoy the chapter!_


	18. Chapter 18

"What's that?" Sirius said, leaning over my shoulder with a piece of toast in his mouth making crumbs shower onto my clothes and hair "It's a letter from a friend," I said. He pulled me up from leaning against the arm rest and took my spot before letting me fall onto his chest. Something I realised very soon about Sirius was that he was the human embodiment of his Animagus. He loved having people run their fingers through his hair and he loved skin ship. Every time I sat on a couch or on the floor, he would appear and put his head on my shoulder or in my lap and I'd surrender to scratching his head. "I didn't know you had friends," he said. That was another thing about him - he was incredibly blunt and straightforward. "Yeah and who's fault do you think that is?" I asked him.

"Yours," he said and got bored of the letter and put his head onto my shoulder. I ran my fingers through his hair and I could almost feel him grin. It had been a week since the party and Sirius almost came and slept in my bed every night. He absolutely hated being left alone. "Hey guys," Regulus said, cheerfully. He sat down on the floor by my feet and put his head onto my lap. I wondered exactly how this looked like to an outsider – probably like an owner with two puppies. Regulus was happier too and he told me it had been a long time since Sirius had been this happy at home before, but it wasn't like Sirius was _really_ happy here – I was beginning to doubt he'd ever be happy living here. He was just more comfortable. "Why don't we go out somewhere," I said, finally, getting a cramp in my leg from having to sit still for so long between them. "Yes!" Sirius cried, jumping up, "Let's go!" Regulus also hurried along his big brother and I pulled on a cloak and walked out of the house. Loud music was blaring out of a muggle's apartment and I knew if they didn't turn it down soon, they were going to get hexed. I couldn't help but laugh at Sirius who looked like a dog who was about to go on a walk. "Would you two hurry up!" Sirius barked as he shot on ahead of us. Regulus chased after his brother, but I continued to walk along the street. I could almost see Marcel jumping on Sirius' back and begin play-fighting. "Adeline! Where are we going?" Regulus cried  
"Gee, say my name a little louder, I mean I'm pretty sure some auror's in Australia didn't hear you," I scoffed. "Sorry," Regulus said, sheepishly as the two of them waited for me to catch up

"Are we going to the park?" Sirius asked, sounding rather excited

"Actually, I was thinking of maybe going to a café," I suggested

"We should have brought our brooms," Regulus said, "The Leaky Cauldron's the closest place from here and it'll take ages to get there."  
"We could ride the Knight Bus," Sirius said. Regulus paled

"Mum doesn't want us to ride on that thing," Regulus said and Sirius rolled his eyes

"Chicken," he muttered

"Fire-breathing chicken," I corrected and the two of them burst into laughter, "Anyways, I think we should just keep walking. We might stumble onto a nice place." I walked on and they followed. There were plenty of muggle children all over London who were on break from school. They looked at us oddly and I was pretty sure it was because our clothes were so different. I stopped on the street and looked over at a sunny little square with cafés surrounding it. There was one that looked cosy and had plenty of windows "Hey, how about that one?" I suggested

"Adeline, that's a muggle café," Regulus said

"They don't serve poison," I told him, "And why should it matter? It's not like we'll be talking to the people in there."  
"Great idea Adel," Sirius said, grinning

"Why don't you two head over there," I said, "I need to go get something." The two of them went over to the café and I walked down the road to look for some sort of money changing area and was lucky enough to find one that would convert my Euro's into pounds. I'd been paid for some of the jobs I'd done in the Midnight Dagger and after giving the rest of my cash to Cleo, Italian Euro's was all I had. "200 Euro's please," I said. The man took it, but was surprised to see an eleven year old girl on the other side of the counter. He did as he was told and I took the cash and counted it. "You've given me twenty pounds less," I growled and counted it in front of him. He blushed and gave me the other twenty pounds. I hated being this short and young, it made people think you were easy to get swindled. "That's a mighty large sum of money you have there," I looked up to see a group of three eighteen year old looking guys surrounding me. I put the money back into my pocket. I needed to get back to Sirius and Regulus and didn't have time to make some snarky comment. Instead I grabbed the leader and shoved my knee between his legs. He cried out and fell and I grabbed the blue hooded boy and twisted his wrist until he cried out, then kicked him hard in the back. I had to roll to miss a punch by the final guy, wearing a cap, but I swept his legs out from underneath him and slammed my leg into his face. I got up and saw people watching us. I dusted myself off and walked away, leaving them there on the street.

"Hey, they're asking for muggle money," Sirius said, looking in awe at the muggles, like some biologist in the plains of Africa looking at lions and giraffe's. "What do you want?" I asked them and they looked at the menu in surprise. It seemed they thought some sort of special muggle food would be on there. I ordered for them and gave the cash "Where'd you get that from?" Sirius asked

"Doesn't matter," I said, shortly  
"I didn't think you could find muggle money in Hogsmeade," Regulus said, frowning  
"You live in Hogsmeade?" Sirius asked, "Why'd you come here?" I went over to a quiet table that looked out over the pretty square and sat down "I used to do jobs for a lot of people Regulus and they paid me in various ways and I left Hogsmeade because it wasn't safe. It's crawling with auror's and Death Eaters. I'd either be killed or given the Dark Mark." Sirius looked at his own arm in disgust as if some imaginary Dark Mark was on there. "You should have come to us earlier," Regulus said, "You didn't have to live like that Adeline." I bit my thumb as I looked out through the window.  
"I'm alright as I am," I said, finally to Regulus. He shrugged and joined Sirius in looking at the coffee maker in awe "What do you think it does?" Sirius said, ducking to get a better look. I rolled my eyes and leaned back against my seat, it was really nice being here and pretending to be a family and I was afraid when Uncle would come back to take me away. "Here's your drinks," a pretty fourteen year old waitress said – obviously the owner's daughter. Sirius beamed and took the cup of coffee and looked down at it, as if waiting for it to do something. Regulus did the exact same thing and I burst into laughter – their expressions were the exact same, they looked like twins! "Um, your food will be here shortly," she said and her face went red. I took the drink she'd tossed over to my end and drank it. "In the name of Merlin, what is this stuff!" Sirius gasped in disgust

"Believe it or not, coffee is the same in both worlds," I said, sarcastically. Sirius slipped his hand over and took my cup of tea and drunk it "This is better," he said, pushing his coffee towards me. I sighed but let him drink it. "Um, here's your meal," the little waitress said and turned her back on me.

"The cake's mine," I said

"Oh, here," she said, tossing it to me before turning her back on me again. She didn't actually think Sirius was going to flirt with her. I looked at Sirius right now who was staring at his own cake, analysing each layer. Judging by the fact he didn't understand what the girl was getting at when asking if he had a girlfriend, Sirius was quite dense – both that and he just really wanted to be left alone with his cake right now. "…So, um, anyways, this is my number," the girl said and handed it to him on a napkin. Sirius took it and stared at it "Are muggles numbered?" Sirius said, "Isn't that a little – barbaric?" The girl looked at Sirius both confused and mortified, not knowing whether Sirius was making fun of her or not "What my cousin is trying to say is though he is really touched," I said, "He's not looking for a girlfriend right now."  
"O-Oh," the girl said, looking upset as she turned and left. Sirius hadn't heard what I said, he was now dissecting his cake and telling his findings to Regulus who was listening intently. "Oh for goodness sake it's just cake!" I cried. Sirius took a bite and approved  
"It's quite moist," he said, "And the cream tastes…sweet." Regulus nodded, fascinated – on the verge of taking notes. Oh gosh, the House of Black was doomed, I thought to myself.

"What's next?" Sirius said, bounding out of the café like an over-excited puppy

"We go home," I said, "Aunt Wal is probably wondering where we are." Sirius' entire demeanour fell at the idea of going home "No, come on Adeline, she won't care! Just a little longer – until dinner!" he cried.

Regulus looked at his brother then turned to me "Yeah Del, mother wouldn't mind as long as we come back to dinner," he said. So at least the brother's still cared about each other

"Fine, just let me think of somewhere to go," I said. I thought back to Sicily and all the muggle places we'd gone. The theatre – but there was no way I was taking these two to see moving pictures. They'd alert the entire muggle community of London that we were wizards and witches. We couldn't go muggle shopping because if they'd bought something Aunt Wal would kill us. "Let's go on the London Eye," I finally said.

"You mean the giant Ferris wheel?" Regulus asked

"How does that thing move without magic?" Sirius asked, fascinated. I had a feeling I was going to regret this as I pushed them into the direction of the Ferris wheel.

We got there after a while and I paid for three tickets before we got onto one of the carriages. The two of them rushed to the window to look down at London and I was happy to stand in the centre and see the two of them enjoy themselves. Sirius grabbed my hand and pulled me over "Look Adeline, you can see our house from here," he said, pointing to the horizon. We went higher and higher and it felt exhilarating being up here where it seemed nobody could touch or hurt you. It kind of reminded me of flying a little. We got to the highest point and I looked down quietly "How could you say we were superior," Sirius finally said, turning to me, "I mean they managed to make us hover on the ground without magic. Doesn't that make them more superior to us?" I shrugged

"Maybe, maybe not," I said as I looked down at London. The peacefulness shattered when Regulus pointed at something "What's that?" he asked. I looked to see black dots below us zooming along the river, in hot pursuit by other dots "Merlin," I whispered before cursing, "It's Death Eaters, we need to get off!"

"What? We can't!" Regulus cried, "Besides, they won't harm us."  
"Regulus we're on a muggle contraption right now. To them, we're just as much muggles as everyone else," I said. There were five other tourists on the carriage and they were looking at us in confusion. How on earth were we supposed to get off? Sirius had his eyes glued to below him and I could do nothing but join him. Suddenly, an explosion went off by the river side and I could see buildings get blasted. "Oh my gosh!" one of the muggles cried and suddenly they were all glued to the glass. I could see the Death Eaters coming this way. I grabbed Sirius and Regulus' arms and pulled them over to me and put the necklace I had around them. I was so frightened I couldn't get an image of the House of Black properly in my head. I pressed England and I could feel us get transported – only to the base of the Eye. "How did you do that?" Sirius asked. I pulled the necklace off them and cursed to myself. "Come on, we have to get back home!" I cried and pulled him into a run. I heard shrieks behind them and forced the two of them to go faster. I wasn't going to let this happen again, not _ever again_ was all I could think. I dared a look back and saw the brooms flying right towards us. I grabbed both of them by the collars and slammed them into an alleyway just as the Death Eaters zoomed past us. I panted trying to get air into my lungs "That was close," I said, straightening up. Sirius was peering out onto the street we'd been chased on to see whether anyone was there. "Come on, we're going on the Knight Bus," I said

"But the house is ten minutes away!" Sirius cried. I glared at him

"I said, we're going on the knight bus," I growled. Sirius frowned

"Funny, when you say it like that you sound like someone I know," he said, his forehead knotting to remember who. I grabbed his hand and pulled him onto the street – I couldn't let Ariana out in front of him.

It turned out Sirius knew exactly what to do to summon the Knight Bus and I could tell Regulus noted that his brother had probably ridden on the bus once before. I climbed on and slowly made my way to one of the seats. Suddenly, the bus sped forward and I was thrown to the back of the bus with Reg and Sirius slamming into me "Thanks guys," I gasped as they peeled themselves off of me.

"Thanks for today 'Del," Sirius said. I dusted myself off

"We're never doing something so stupid ever again," I said, more to myself as I sat on a moving seat.  
"What? I thought it was fun!" Sirius cried

"We almost got killed," I said, looking at him incredulously

"No we weren't," Sirius said, "We just witnessed a couple of Death Eaters getting pursued by aurors – that happens all around London."  
"Well I don't plan on ever leaving the house then," I said, "And neither will you." His forehead knotted "So you're going to lock me up, huh?" he said, his voice rising, "You're pathetic Adeline, I hate you." I grabbed onto his collar and rose up

"Listen to me," I said in a harsh whisper, "I _will _not allow somebody else I care about die do you understand? I've been through enough pain, okay? So you_ will_ sit put, stop saying my name out loud and do what I say." I let go of him as angry tears began to form and looked away. I slammed into the floor moments later when the bus announced we'd gotten to the park near the house. I got off and began walking to the House alone, but I could hear the two brother's footsteps behind me. I got to the house and Kreacher opened it for me "Mistress Adeline," Kreacher said, "Dinner is being served."  
"I'm not feeling very hungry Kreacher," I said, coming into the house, "Would you mind telling Aunt Wal that I'm taking a bath and going to bed?" Kreacher didn't seem happy about retelling my message to Aunt Wal, but he did it anyways. I climbed up the stairs to my room and poured water into the bathtub and fell into it, pushing my head into the water too, trying to clear out the thoughts in my head. They weren't coming to get Reg or Sirius – or me. Those aurors and Death Eaters didn't even know we were there, I thought to myself. Oh gosh, I couldn't believe I'd been so stupid! I could have lost them – I could have lost more people. I resurfaced when my lungs burnt for air and sat there listening to the nymph's in the paintings singing to their loves.

I pulled on my white nightgown and crawled into bed, closing my eyes and feeling sleep take me due to the exhaustion of the day. Moments later I felt a hand touch me. I stiffened "Adeline," I heard Sirius say. Oh, it was only Sirius. "What?" I asked  
"Adeline, I'm sorry," Sirius said and without even asking he crawled into my bed and held onto me. Was he apologising because he was actually sorry, or because he was lonely? "It was so much fun and I know we were being reckless though – and I should have known you were just trying to protect us – but nothing's going to happen Adeline. Even if my parents hate me, I'm still a Black, no Death Eater's going to touch me."

"And what about the auror's?" I asked

"Adeline," he said, sighing – he still didn't believe they killed my family

"You're still a Black, no matter whether you're in Gryffindor or not," I said. He sighed and pulled me in tighter "What do you want me to do?" he asked

"Don't go outside please," I begged. He groaned

"This place is suffocating Adeline," he cried  
"_Please_," I said.

"Fine!" he snapped and I could tell he was mad at me, but he laid his head onto my shoulder and closed his eyes. "Goodnight Sirius," I said, softly. He didn't respond and I smiled at him as I closed my own eyes and felt more comfortable going to sleep with Sirius' warmth next to me.

* * *

_Okay, so thanks to everyone reading this chapter (and don't get any dirty thoughts about Sirius and Ariana – it's like a brother and sister sleeping in the same bed)._

_I want to thank the LOVELY people who reviewed; Nyx (your review was hilarious!), soccercoolf, Lily, Anon, Jess, mauraderlove (hehe, keep reading and find out who she'll end up with!) and now to Naflower05 and GriffendorLover! Thank you so much for your analysis (I'm not joking I really ate up your advice). As for Ariana acting like she's 16 and you guys were confused about that, it's because I suck at Character Building. I wanted her to act like she was older than her age because for someone who's been mainly fending for herself since she was eight I thought it would be more realistic to have her act much more mature (even though she has Uncle Abe and Uncle it just wasn't enough) and Cleo hasn't had a friend ever before and unlike Yelena, she'd closed herself off to people until Yelena and Ariana came into her life. So she's not so much mature as just cold and calculating. Yelena on the other hand, I wanted to be what a true eleven year old would be like. She hangs onto her friends and wants to gain their approval – but it's my fault that you guys didn't pick that up __ I need to explain things a lot better sorry _

_On the other hand Naflower05, the story about Severus' trap segment I'd read on Wikipedia (not your most reliable source apparently) and it stated that it had happened during Sirius' early Hogwarts years and I'd let my imagination run wild…sorry! I should research it MUCH better, but thanks for picking it up. All I've done is inhaled all seven Harry Potter books. I haven't read anything beyond that, but I wanted to make it realistic…and it's slipping from me (Now that you mention it they are tough spells to master)! (Well realistic in HP terms). Unfortunately, I can't change it, because it's the basis for what's going to happen in the future…and I'm eight chapters ahead of what I've uploaded…sorry!_

_Thanks for reading this guys and with your reviews I can hopefully write even better! I love you guys so much and this is the first fanfic I've ever written in my life, so please do critique me because I want to slowly grow up to your levels! Thank you (and sorry about the lengthy passage)!_


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter

"How do I look?" I asked Regulus. He was chewing on a chocolate frog, but put his thumbs up for approval at my robes. I'd gotten enough letters from Yelena to flood my entire cupboard and had finally decided to meet them. Regulus was in Quidditch robes seeing as he was practicing for the grand final of his Quidditch league that would occur in a week's time. Sirius was sulking in the corner right now and guilt was crawling in me at the fact I was leaving him alone today with his parents. "Can't I come meet your friends?" Sirius asked, "Or you could leave me alone and I'll meet up with you later." I bit my lip – I'd gone through every possible place I could put Sirius that would be safe and keep him happy, but I hadn't come up with anything. "I won't be long," I promised. He didn't even bother glaring at me anymore. Instead he looked at me pathetically before lowering his eyes. It was as if I was breaking his heart "Oh for goodness sake go get dressed!" I cried. Sirius' entire demeanour changed and he suddenly jumped up over the railing of the staircase and began bolting to his room. "You know he perfected that look years ago," Regulus said

"Urgh, he's impossible!" I cried, going back to my clothes. I was worried I might have to meet them as Ariana instead of the real me and if Ariana was going to make an appearance, everything had to be perfect. The clothes were a gift from Uncle Orion. He seemed to want to throw money at me as if it were a way to get rid of the guilt he felt from leaving me alone for three years. I sat down on my bed and thought of somewhere I could put Sirius – he was almost certainly not coming with me to see Cleo and Yelena. He'd know I was Ariana then. I sighed and got up "I need to go speak to Sirius," I growled and went up the staircase too. I knocked "Come in!" he cried, cheerfully. I opened the door and he was pulling his pants up "Sirius, when you let someone in you should at least make sure you have clothes on," I growled.  
"Come on Adeline, it's only you," he snorted taking his shirt off and changing it quickly. I looked around at the Gryffindor Banners everywhere and noticed Sirius had put up a new addition to his wall – photos. I walked over to the wall and looked at them carefully. It was the Marauders – Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew and last, but certainly not least in Sirius' books, James. I saw the four of them mucking around "How's James Potter?" I asked, turning around to see Sirius done already. He saddened "He wants me over all the time – says the holidays are boring without me, but I can't go – my mother wouldn't let it go. The Potter's are blood traitors they say," he said. Oh gosh, Sirius was a genius. I could dump Sirius at the Potters! "Do you have any of his letters?" I asked

"Why?" Sirius asked but he was already going through his draw to get me one

"Promise not to go crazy?" I asked him as I took the envelop and read the return address

"Why?" he said

"Why don't I tell your mother you and I are going to have some bonding time, so I can finally get you ready to be the heir of the Black Family," I said

"But you're going to your friend's house," he said, confused

"That doesn't mean I can't drop you off at the Potter's before I go," I said, shrugging. Silence followed before Sirius ran straight up to me and wrapped me in a bone crushing hug "You're a genius Adeline!" he cried as he spun me around  
"Let – go of – me!" I cried and he did and beamed at me. He looked so much nicer when he smiled.

"Well come on then, we have to drop Regulus off first," I said and Sirius bounded next to me like a puppy who knew he was going back to his owner.

Mrs Black was ecstatic that I would take the time to straighten out Sirius for her and actually pushed us out the door. Regulus made it to his club and I climbed onto the Knight Bus to get to the Potter's. I stood in the corner to make sure if I fell, I wouldn't fall far and Sirius squeezed himself next to me. He didn't say much to me during the trip, but he was constantly smiling. "Next stop, Siren Meadows!" the conductor called

"That's us," I said. Sirius bounded to the door gracefully and I ended up falling head first into a pole as the bus screeched to a stop "How can you stand up so straight!" I cried as I rubbed my nose and began walking on the street beside Sirius. Sirius didn't answer, instead he was hoping along the road. I realised that Sirius only really needed me in the House of Black. At the moment, I was similar to the Adeline at school because he had James. Being used like that probably should have hurt, but I was actually rather happy that Sirius was so cheerful about school and that at least away from the Black Family, he had James. "What's the address 'Del?!" Sirius cried.

"32 Esper Street, Siren Meadows!" I called back. I could see Sirius look around frantically to see where the street was. I put my hand on his back "Relax silly," I said, laughing at him, "If we really can't find him, you can just Animagus and sniff him out."

"Haha, that's funny," Sirius said rolling his eyes.

"Let's go down there," I said, pointing at a street and following it

"You're lost, aren't you?" Sirius cried. I ignored him and he bounded up next to me "You're wasting time Adeline, we have to be back home before dinner!"

"Sirius, it's nine in the morning. You have the entire day," I said, incredulously.

"Come on Adeline, hurry up!" he said, jogging ahead of me and looking around.  
"Sirius," I said and pointed to the street sign that had magically appeared pointing down a road saying 'Esper Street'. Sirius grinned and raced straight down the street. Siren Meadows was a wizaridng community that had literally been integrated with a large retirement village for muggles. Between the small houses for the elderly, if you were looking for a particular house, the street would appear to you out of thin air, like Esper street had. I walked down the street and saw Sirius already at the door, knocking like crazy. I rushed up and pushed his hand away from the door "Okay, they know you're here," I said and he pushed his nose at the glass panel of the door to see if anyone was coming "Oh no, what if they're not here!" he cried in despair. Suddenly, he became needy again and pulled me in "Adeline, what do we do?" he whaled

"He's right there!" I said, pointing to a dark figure you could see in the frosted glass behind the door. He pushed away from me and I stumbled back as the door opened and an older version of James Potter came out "Why hello there, how can I help you?" James' father asked. Sirius looked like he was going to spontaneously combust soon "Is James Potter home?" I asked, politely for him

"James!" he called from behind him, "Are you both his friends?" Not in this lifetime, I thought to myself. "This is Sirius Black," I said, pointing to Sirius. Immediately recognition crossed his father's face "Sirius? My son never shuts up about you," he said. Sirius beamed like it was the biggest compliment you could possibly ever give him. "Sirius, you look like a three year old on his birthday," I said. He ignored me as we heard footsteps come from the house "What's up dad?" James' distinct voice called. Nobody in the world could hold Sirius anymore. He pushed the door open, pushing James' father out of the way "JAMES!" Sirius cried. James looked at Sirius in surprise and suddenly his face lit up exactly like Sirius' did "SIRIUS!" he cried and they suddenly ran towards each other. It was nice to know James was just as embarrassing as Sirius was being. "Um, so would you like to come in?" his father said.

"No thank you, I just came to drop him off," I said. His father grinned

"Like a kid?" he asked and I looked over at the two of them who were half hugging, half fighting each other "Yeah," I said, they were exactly like kids, "I'm sorry for intruding. I hope you didn't have anything planned for today."  
"Actually we were thinking of going shopping for my wife's birthday present," he said, frowning

"Sirius can come!" James cried.

"Yeah James' dad, I'm really good at buying stuff," Sirius cried.  
"No matter what you do, do not listen to what Sirius says," I whispered to his father. He laughed

"I understand," he said

"If it's okay, can I pick him up at around five?" I asked

"Sure," he said, laughing at the way I was dropping Sirius off for – well a play date, "Well then I'll leave him in your care – be careful they don't break something!"  
"Are you sure you don't want a ride somewhere. We're going shopping right away," he said, "If you'd like to come along."  
"No thank you," I said, smiling, "It was lovely meeting you." He waved as I turned and left back up the road. Sirius, check. Now to get to Yelena's.

I found an empty street end and pulled out a photo Yelena had sent me of her home. I thought of it as I pressed my necklace and was teleported to the small house she owned. Yelena had told me that her mother was a witch, but her father was a muggle business man with bad luck. She felt sometimes that their marriage was more of a business deal then an actual marriage which was why she felt so lonely all the time. Her father used her mother's magic to help his business grow and in return he showered her mother with whatever she wanted, but her mother's demands were outrageous and the growth of the business was only ever very little so they lived in a small house in a muggle community. I knocked on the door and was greeted by Yelena who threw her arms around me "Ariana!" she cried. That name was so foreign after being called Adeline back at the House of Black. "Is it alright if I come in like this, or would you like me to come in as Ariana?" I asked. Yelena frowned  
"It should be fine any way," she said, "I've told my mother all about you!"  
"What do you mean all about me?" I asked

"No – not that stuff. Just that you know, you're top of the class, duelling club and so on," she said. I smiled "Guess Ariana better make an appearance then," I said and twisted the kitometrix. I turned into the beautiful version of myself "I might disappoint them in my other form," I told her. Yelena shrugged, used to the transformations. She grabbed my hand and pulled me into her house

"Where is your mother?" I asked. She shrugged

"She's rarely here," she said and she looked saddened and lonely.

I wrapped my arms around her and hugged her "Let's not talk about that kind of stuff," I said, excitedly, "Or what we're doing, or the future. Let's just have fun today, okay?"  
"Okay," Yelena said, grinning, "But what should we do?" Suddenly the door bell rung "That's Cleo!" she cried. She bounded down from her room and went downstairs to meet Cleo. A few moments later the two of them returned. Cleo smiled "Thanks for finally putting this together Yellie, I was about to die of boredom!"  
"Same here!" Yelena cried

"I'm baby sitting a puppy, remember?" I said, referring to my letters, "But anyways – first things first – we need to renovate your room." Yelena turned to me surprised

"What?" she asked

"You said you were lonely didn't you? If we renovate it you'll always think of us when you see it," I said. Yelena smiled

"Okay," she said, bounding up and down – was doing that normal?

"We don't have wands," Cleo said, throwing her bag on the floor and climbing onto the bed  
"We'll just have to do it the muggle way then," I said, shrugging.

"Or we could go down to the renovating shop I heard Diagon Ally has," Cleo suggested

"Stop being lazy," I growled

"You know it's impossible to renovate this entire place in one day using muggle power," Cleo said

"Get your bag Ar, we're going to Diagon Ally," Yelena announced, pulling me up. I shrugged and didn't protest as we left the house and I pulled the necklace around them both and teleported to Diagon Ally. It was just opening so it wasn't so packed. Yelena made us link arms and we walked down the street and into a side street which had the home décor things in it. "Wallpaper!" I called and we walked in. "Morning ma'am how can I help you?" the shop attendant asked. I was surprised how quickly he came to serve us, before realising the three of us looked glamorous even outside of Hogwarts "I want to look at the latest wallpapers," I ordered

"Certainly miss, why don't you take a seat," he said. We did as we were told and soon enough we were being shown every wall paper in the store. "That one," I said, pointing to one that was actually a painting of a bank on the river with wildflower's everywhere and a boat waiting in the water to be ridden on. It was so peaceful and it moved with the changing seasons and sometimes people would walk through it. "That is nice – but I was hoping for something different," she said. I sighed and closed the book "This one!" Cleo said and she pointed to one that turned the walls into marble. It had pillars of marble in places and gold trim that would be placed on the walls. It would make Yelena's room look grand – as if it were something out of the Roman Empire. "Hm, it is stylish," Yelena admitted

"Okay, fine, but we should have one wall as the lake," I said

"No lake Ariana," Yelena said. I crossed my arms and she laughed at me. We bought the wallpaper, which actually came in just one A4 sheet of paper and moved on to bed spreads and furniture. I insisted on keeping the couches she had there, and when we bought another bed spread, I pushed the two of them into a photo shop and had the assistant take our photo in the back streets of Diagon Ally. At first Cleo and Yelena were poised, but I pushed them playfully and we ended up playing around in the pictures that came out. In the end we got a whole booklet of photos. I flicked through them to see a miniature version of me wrap her arms around her two best friends and pull a funny face at the camera. "My legs hurt," Yelena admitted

"We can go have tea," I grinned, "In Paris maybe."  
"What?" they both said in unison. I pointed playfully at the necklace around my neck and they beamed.

Moments later, the three of us where at a café with the view of the Effiel tower behind us "You're joining me for fashion week right?" Yelena said

"Seems like it," I said

"Talking about fashion week," Cleo said, "And Yelena wanting to open her own line in the future – ta-da!" A slip of paper came out form Cleo's bag. I pulled it close and the picture of the goblin in the bottom right hand corner turned and spoke to me "This check is to Miss Cleopatra Mitsubishi for 100,000 galleons and is authorised to be accepted in any wizarding bank in London and Europe," it said and I could see the number scribbled on the front of the check. I handed it to Yelena "Guess this is yours," I said, smiling

"I can't take that!" Yelena cried

"I did, and if you don't take it, it makes me feel like a bad person for taking it from Ariana," Cleo said

"And you'll make me feel like a bad person for knocking another person to the ground to get that kind of money," I said. Yelena sighed

"I don't even know how to even start something like that!" Yelena cried

"Advertisement," I said, "You can start in Hogwarts, making clothes for other people – or buy a small store and before you know it – you'll have an empire!"

"You're getting a little ahead of yourself there Ari," Cleo said, laughing at my dramatics, "I'll help you Yelena – well with the business side of things seems like I'm gifted at it."  
"And I'll help you with every other side," I said, smiling – okay so I didn't know how to even think of starting a business.

"Cleo I trust, you on the other hand…I don't know," Yelena said, teasing me. We sat and laughed among each other and eventually I pulled them over to the shops in Paris. I had no idea how to locate the wizarding shopping centres, so we ended up looking through muggle boutiques to get an idea of what Yelena should do. "Maybe the mannequins should be hexed so they won't let customers out the door until they buy something," I suggested  
"You've spent far too long with Sirius Black," Cleo said, eying me, "You're brain's turning to mush." We laughed as we moved out of the shops and ended up going to the Effiel Tower and climbing up there "This is incredible," Yelena admitted, "It's days like this when I love magic." All the worries I'd had built up in me were gone "I love you guys," I said

"Ew," Cleo said, shoving me playfully. Yelena burst into laughter and ended up disturbing a loved up muggle couple who were kissing "Come on, we better get started on your room so I can pick up Sirius on time."

We went to her room and stuck the piece of wallpaper on her wall. Immediately, the design began to creep up her walls and turn them into marble. The ends of her walls became sleek looking pillars and rectangular boxes of gold trim lined the floor. We did her bed by hand and we put photo frames of the pictures we'd taken everywhere. The wall paper had made a fireplace and on the mantle I put a small figurine of the Eiffel Tower on there "There, that's Paris we've visited together," I said, "We have to fill up the whole mantle." I turned to see Yelena with tears in her eyes

"I've never had any friends," she sniffled, "You guys are the best!" I burst into laughter and she threw a slipper at me and I ended up hugging her with Cleo. "Oh, so when Yelena says something it's sweet, but when I say I love you guys it's 'ew'?" I growled. Cleo shoved me playfully away from them and I burst into laughter, until I caught sight on the clock. "It's five!" I jumped and looked to see what the watch Uncle Orion had bought me was telling me to make sure. Looking at the position of the planets, sure enough it definitely was five. "I have to go Yelena, but we'll definitely do this again, okay?" I said. I hugged them again before rushing out the house and quickly thinking of James' front door step and used my necklace to teleport there. I caught my reflection in the glass panel and saw I was still Ariana. I looked around to see nobody was watching and turned into Adeline before knocking on the door. Mr Potter opened it again "Ah, the little girl from before –Adeline was it?" he said. Oh gosh, I was going to kill Sirius Black.

"Ariana actually," I said. He let me in  
"My mistake, I could have sworn Sirius called you Adeline," he said. He led me through the landing and into a dining room where Sirius and James were chatting up a storm in front of a woman who was probably Mrs Potter. "Come on Sirius, we need to get home," I said.

"No!" Sirius and James whined in unison "Just an hour more – I just sat down for dinner!"  
"You'll get dinner at home," I grumbled

"Come on Adeline!" he whined

"See, its Adeline," Mr Potter said. I glared at Sirius in secret  
"It's actually Ariana," I said

"Whatever," Sirius cried, "The main point is just one more hour." In an argument with Sirius, I could win, but when James and Sirius were together it would be impossible. James didn't seem to care who I was, he just wanted Sirius to stay for longer. I had to be smart about this "Sirius, if you stay an hour longer, we'll be late and your mother won't let you out again, but if you come home now, it'll be very easy for me to persuade her to let you come back here," I said. Sirius considered it, then turned to James "That's a pretty good deal isn't it?" he asked him

"I would definitely take it mate," James agreed

"You think?" he asked

"Yeah, take it – but ask how frequently you can visit first," he said. It was like the two of them were discussing the answer to a multiple choice question. I looked at the two of them incredulously "Yes, they've been like that all day," Mrs Potter laughed. I turned to her and put my best smile on

"Sorry about troubling you like this," I said

"It was no trouble at all. Sirius really is quite fun to have around," she said. Sirius beamed and looked at Mrs Potter warmly "Thanks mum," he said. I left him here for eight hours and he was calling somebody else mother now? "Anyways! How frequently can I come back?" Sirius asked, looking at me business like. "Sirius you should be happy you'll be coming back at all, now hurry up!" I cried. Sirius looked down at his plate and at James in the same pitifully sorrowful way that had made me agree to let him leave the house today. "I said you'll come back didn't I?" I said, exasperated

"I guess," Sirius said, "I'll see you soon James."

"Yeah Sirius," James said, equally depressed, "Make it soon Anna."  
"It's Ariana," I muttered.  
"Whatever," they said in unison. I felt bad for James' parents. I was with the two of them for five minutes now and I felt like I needed to lie down. Sirius dragged his feet "Bye mum and dad," he called and the Potters bid him farewell and James walked him to the door again. It was like Sirius was about to die, for goodness sake. "Remember, listen to the game on the radio," James said

"Yeah and tell me how mum likes the present," Sirius said

"Will do, bye mate," James said

"Bye James, write to me, okay?" Sirius called  
"Yea-," James said, but I cut him off by shutting the front door between them

"We really have to go," I said, desperately and began running down the lane. It was like our roles had been switched from this morning. Sirius was dawdling and I was bounding over in desperation to the square. We made it to the Knight Bus and sat down. "So how was James'?" I asked. It was in that moment that I realised it was best not to mention James to Sirius because he exploded into chatter about James' room, what they did, where they went, who they saw (including complete strangers), what they said and pretty much everything that had happened on their day in minute detail. I ended up blocking his words out after five minutes of a continuous stream of words coming out of his mouth. We made it to the House of Black and Kreacher welcomed us telling us we'd made it just in time for dinner. I washed up and we went into the dining hall to see the rest of the family and a few guests there. Aunt Wal looked up "Adeline, how was your day?" she asked. I smiled and turned to Sirius "I think you learnt a lot about pure bloods today, right?" I asked him

"Yeah," Sirius said, "We went to the State Wizarding Library over by the Ministry of Magic – it's amazing what pure bloods have done for this country." He was a perfect actor, so perfect even I was in awe as he sat down and ate dinner and his mother beamed at him.

* * *

_Hello everyone it's me again! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I'm beginning to love writing about when Sirius and James are together!_

_I want to give thanks to Q for reviewing and Jess...and to reply to your answer...you're just going to have to read on and find out! And also to Bob d Unicorn who's name I absolutely love! I read your name at eleven at night and you know how when you're tired everything seems so much funnier? I was rolling on the ground laughing at your name...which is pretty weird now that you think about it...anyways! Thanks for your review and yes, I will be working on character building, but that brings me to my next rant! I'm writing five chapters ahead of you guys right now (and her character makes so much sense for the future) and there's something so cool that's happening and I want to share it with you guys but I can't! Urgh! But the excitement of having you guys read it and actually enjoy it makes me so glad I actually decided to write this up! I hope you enjoy reading this chapter too! Bye!_


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter

I was exercising in my room as I did to make sure that I was ready for any time if Uncle appeared and told me to go with him when the door swung open. I immediately stopped what I was doing as Sirius crept into my room. It was five in the morning "'Del, you're already up," he said surprised. He came up to me and pulled me next to him on my bed "I need a favour," he said

"I'm busy," I lied, more worried of what Sirius' favour would be. He wrapped his arms around me

"Please!" he whined, "it's just James' got tickets for a Quidditch game – you know Godric's Griffons against Porthouses' Phoenix'. They're really good seats and I _really, really_ want to go."  
"What date?" I asked, chewing on my thumb

"3rd of August," he said

"Isn't that Lucius' father's birthday?" I asked him, "You know we're going to the Malfoy Manor. He lay his chin on my shoulder "I know – but you're so smart I thought you'd think of a good way I could go," he said

"I can't, Aunt Walberga wants you there and she's not going to take no for an answer,"

"Please, _please_!" Sirius cried, wrapping his arms around me, "Come on Delli,"

"That's not going to work," I said, pulling away from him, but he held on

"I've been so good haven't I?" he said, "I didn't ask to be taken to James' for the past two weeks! It's just this one day."  
"It's the wrong day Sirius, I'll let you go another time," I said

"But it's the semi-finals!" he whined  
"Sirius, I can't do anything about it," I said, "You have to go to the Malfoy's." He collapsed onto my bed and looked at me in despair. I got up and looked away "I'm going to have breakfast," I said. I looked back and saw him staring at my ceiling, looking incredibly upset. "I'll see what I can do, okay? But no promises," I finally said. He jumped up and leapt towards me pulling me into his arms and I scratched his head "I said no promises," I said

"Thank you Adeline, I love you, you know," he said

"Sure you do," I said, rolling my eyes, "You'd love a troll if it meant you'd go to James'."  
"Come with me," he said, his eyes gleaming eagerly, "They've got three extra tickets and they'll go to waste. Apparently his Aunt's sick or something so her husband and kid can't go. You can watch the semi-finals too!"  
"If I'm going to cover for you, I should stay," I said, "Now go write to James." I pushed him out the door and he ran up the stairs cheerfully.

I had absolutely no idea how to get Sirius out of going to the Malfoy's, but he had complete faith in me. "Adeline," Aunt Walberga called. I was with her and Lucius' mother, a silver haired witch with sharp eyes "Yes Aunt Walberga?" I said, politely

"Which one do you think is better?" she asked, showing me two almost identical napkins. I took them both in my hands. They were silver and gold. The designs were slightly different though. In one, the silver lines were snakes, looping around each other and in the other it was gold snakes looping around each other "This one," I said, handing Aunt Walberga the one with the silver snakes "Silver is one of the colours of Slytherin so it makes sense it should be the colour of our house," I said. Aunt Walberga beamed and handed the napkin to Lucius' mother. She liked to test me like this in front of the other pureblood mother's, showing me off, but I didn't understand why.

I'd been with them as they shopped for last minute décor for the party. "We had better go then," she said. The party was tomorrow and I had absolutely no idea how to get Sirius out of this party. I held onto the two ladies and thought of the Malfoy Manor as the two of them half-apparated me, half-dragged me along with them. I had no idea how to Apparate so I was dead weight for them. I landed on the floor and tried to hide my gasps for breath "Excellent Adeline, you're a very talented witch," Mrs Malfoy approved

"Thank you Aunty," I said, holding her hand and pulling her along as we walked through the fake black gates and walked a hedged path to the Malfoy Manor. It was a grand house like the House of Black, but it wasn't as hidden. Sirius and Regulus were flying through the air on their brooms playing a game of Quidditch with a few of their cousins and the Malfoy kids. "Adeline!" Reg called stopping metres above me "Come watch! We're winning," he said.  
"I need to help out with the décor Regulus, but thank you," I said, smiling at him

"No dear, why don't you go," Mrs Malfoy said. I would much rather sit on the grass then help with party decorations. I tried to stop myself from skipping to Regulus as I sat on the grass and watched the game. I cheered them on, but I was wrapped up in thinking of a way to get Sirius out of this party and could think of none. I needed a miracle – like Sirius hurting himself! – Wait, that was it! I jumped up off the floor "Sirius, come here! I need you for a second!" I called. Sirius barrelled towards me and I thought he was going to crash, but he somehow managed to come to a stop "Yeah?" he asked, his hair was swept back and he looked even handsomer than usual. "I need you to fall off your broom," I said

"What?" he cried

"Fall off your broom and pretend your hurt – it's the only way to get you to the Quidditch game," I said. His eyes dawned in realisation and he grinned "See, I knew you were good at this!" he cried. He spun around and zoomed off in the other direction and I saw him play around in the air, before flying into someone and falling off his broom. He was a good actor "Oh no!" I cried and ran up to the place he'd fallen "Are you okay?" I cried as the other players rushed down to see what had happened  
"Ow, ow! My leg," he cried. I surveyed it

"Wriggle your toes," I said and he did, but cried out "I think you may have hurt something. Regulus got get your mother." He turned and rushed into the house to get Aunt Walberga who came out quickly "What happened?" she asked

"He fell off his broom, I think he's hurt his leg," I said. Aunt Walberga grabbed her son's leg "AH!" he cried, "It hurts mum, get off me."

"Oh dear, let's get you to St Mungo's," Aunt Walberga said

"There's no need," I said, "He hasn't damaged his bones, he just needs rest and a cast to stop him from moving the leg till it heals – maybe a pain spell to help him too."  
"Are you sure?" Lucius asked, concerned

"I'm training to become a healer. I know," I said, looking at the leg. Aunt Walberga was proud of me and seemed to care less about her son. Regulus and Lucius helped Sirius into the Malfoy Manor to rest and I went to Aunt Walberga "I'll take him back to the Black Manor and look over him," I told her, "There's no reason for him to be here anymore and he's taking up a bed another guest can use." She seemed to agree with my reasoning "I'll send Kreacher along with you," she said

"Kreacher is needed here to help with the preparations," I said, "Trust me Aunt Walberga, I can take care of Sirius just fine – I'm only sorry I couldn't celebrate here, but I guess family duty comes first."  
"It does," she agreed, "I'll help apparate him to the House of Black then." Aunt Walberga and Bella's mother grabbed onto Sirius' shoulder's upstairs and they disappeared among Sirius' cried of pain. Bella held onto my hand and I thought of the House of Black and apparated with her before rushing up to Sirius and making sure he was okay. "We can stay for a moment if you need anything," Aunt Walberga said.

"I'll be fine," I said, smiling, "Mrs Malfoy is waiting for you all, you should go." Aunt Walberga gave me one more approving look before disappearing along with the others "Why does my mother seem to care more about you then her injured son?" Sirius asked, bitterly. He always pretended that his mother's obvious favouritism didn't hurt when it did "I don't know," I admitted, "When's the game?" I asked

"12 tomorrow," he said

"Then get to sleep, we'll be waking early to get to James'," I said. I turned but I felt Sirius' hand. "Sleep with me tonight," he said, "Please?"  
"Are you frightened?" I asked  
"No," he said, "It's nice having you close Adeline, you actually like me." I sighed and crawled into his bed "Get to sleep," I said and I felt him press himself next to me. I always had the strangest feeling like Sirius was using me as a substitute mother or maybe older sister, but I pulled him in anyways and closed my eyes.

…

"Addi!" Marcel called to me, "Addi get up already!" I reached out to touch him and felt something. I awakened more and realised my eyes were shut. I opened my eyes to see Sirius grinning "Addi, get up already we're going to James'!" he cried. I fell back into bed. It had been years since some called me Addi. "Sirius quiet down or the portraits will hear and Aunt Wal will be here in no time," I said  
"Come on, she loves you more than me and trusts you'll take care of me," he said. I sighed and got up. Sirius took his shirt off – I really hope he'd grow up soon and realise changing in front of girls is something you just didn't do. "I'm going to my room, okay?" I said

"Alright – just hurry up would you?" he said. I got ready in my own room and went to the kitchen to make breakfast. For the sake of the portraits Sirius limped down the stairs "We'll have breakfast at there's," Sirius said, "Come on Adeline."  
"It's Ariana at their house okay?" I said, sternly

"I get it, can we go!" Sirius cried. I sighed and took my bag and let him drag me out the house. I locked the door carefully. Oddly enough, Sirius didn't bound down the street "What's wrong?" I asked him. "You don't think my mum would really be – upset with me," he said. Even though he wouldn't admit it, he desperately wanted his parents to care for him. "Of course she wouldn't," I said, "You know she's been looking at you differently."  
"How so?" he asked, curiously  
"I don't know, sometimes she watches you at the dinner table – like she's trying to figure out something. I think she's getting fonder of you," I said. A small smile escaped from him and I couldn't help but think he was adorable at times. I held onto his hand "Come on we'll miss the Knight Bus," I said.

We climbed on and I honestly thought I was getting better at this mode of transport. Sirius used his arms to keep me from toppling too far and we managed to get to James' house without a worry. Sirius pulled off his shirt to reveal he'd been wearing a Godric's Griffons shirt underneath. The team represented Godric's Hollow and was a good team I had to say. Sirius knocked on the door and James slammed the door open and immediately they began to blabber about how much they missed each other. I suddenly remembered why I hadn't wanted to come in the first place – maybe I could ditch them for Yelena's or Cleo's. "Addi, come in already!" Sirius cried

"Ariana," I whispered

"Whatever," he said and bounded to James who bounded to Sirius.

"James are they here?" his mother called

"Yeah mum, Sirius and – what's her name?" James said to me

"Ariana!" I called before Sirius could answer

"Oh right, Ariana's here," James called. James' mother came in and hugged Sirius tightly

"Thank you for the gift dear, it really was wonderful!" she said. Sirius grinned and hugged her back

"Glad you liked it," he said and she showed me the tea set with the English Quidditch Team on it.

"Oh my gosh," I cried – it was hideous.

"What don't you like it?" Sirius asked

"If you ever get me something Quidditch related for my birthday I'll turn it into a fire-breathing chicken and burn your hair off," I growled. Mrs Potter laughed  
"And when is your birthday dear?" she asked

"8th of August," I said

"That's five days away!" Sirius cried, "That's not true. I remember your birthday was… it was… the 8th of August." He said the last bit dismally

"It's fine Sirius, really, I don't want anything," I said, "You really have bad taste anyways."  
"What? You don't like the mug? Mum, do you like the mug?" Sirius asked, pulling the puppy dog eyes out.

"I love it!" Mrs Potter cried and suddenly Sirius cheered up

"See? I have great taste!" Sirius cried

"You're going to break a lot of girl's hearts in the future," I muttered to myself as I showed myself to a seat. "Ah, you're here," Mr Potter suddenly appeared from the stairs, "Sirius and – Ariana, right?"  
"Right," I said.

"Hey dad," Sirius said, sitting on the couch. Mr Potter ruffled Sirius' hair.

"Have you had breakfast?" Mrs Potter asked

"Nope," Sirius said

"I'll go help you in the kitchen," I announced and got up

"Addi, I want eggs," Sirius called

"Addi?" Mr Potter asked

"Whatever," Sirius and James said together. I growled at them before disappearing into the kitchen and helping with the meal. We sat down at a small dining table and it felt nice. The room wasn't covered with portraits of dead relatives but photo's of the family smiling back at us. This was the kind of house I wanted when I grew up "So Adeline," Mr Potter called. I looked at him "If that's your name," he added.  
"Is Adeline your name before you got adopted?" James blurted out. Together they made one giant jerk, him and Sirius did. "James," Mrs Potter barked  
"Sorry, I didn't know you were sensitive about it," James said, sheepishly. Silence followed

"So…you're adopted," Mr Potter said. Mrs Potter glared at him and he put his hands up in surrender

"What? I'm curious," he cried. I sighed

"I don't really want to talk about it, if that's alright," I said, slowly

"Of course it's fine dear," Mrs Potter said  
"I was just curious to exactly how you two are related," he said, pointing to me and Sirius

"I used to-" Sirius began, but I clapped my hand over his mouth. Sirius pulled my hand away "What is with you Adeline? It's not like dad's going to tell anyone!"  
"Excuse me one moment," I said, smiling warmly at them and I grabbed Sirius by the collar and pulled him out "Sirius, do you think I care what they think?" I spat, "If you tell them what happened you're putting them in danger. I don't care what you believe happened that night but there are people out there who would kill them if they found out the Potter's know I'm a Westwood, do you understand?" I cried

"Wait – so you're doing it for their good?" Sirius asked

"Yes," I said, more patience waning

"Oh," he said, slowly. I pulled him back out to the dining hall and saw even Mrs Potter was eying me curiously "Is everything alright?" Mrs Potter said. I sighed

"Sirius knew me before I was adopted," I said, "I used to be a family friend, but the past is the past. I'm Ariana Dumbledore now." Mr Potter spat his juice out

"Dumbledore?" he asked, "Like Albus Dumbledore?"  
"His brother Abeforth adopted me," I said, "But with the Death Eaters hanging around Hogsmeade he thought it best to have me stay at the House of Black."  
"Wait, wait, wait," James said and I suddenly was itching for my wand to jinx him a few times, "You're Sirius' _family_ friend?" he asked, "As in the very family who are vicious pure blood believing Voldemort followers?"  
"James," his parents barked

"What? It's true," Sirius said, bitterly

"Sirius," I said, rubbing his back, but he pulled away

"Well, what type of family friend are you?" James asked

"I'm not a follower of – you-know-who," I said, "If that's what you're asking."  
"It's Voldemort," Sirius said

"I wouldn't say that around the streets anymore," I said, "Word out there says a jinx's been put on his name and every time you say it out loud Death Eaters come and torture you."  
"That's a load of gossip," James said, "As if anybody could actually make a spell that powerful."  
"Actually, it's quite simple," I said, "It's the exact same spell they use to make sure under-age wizardry doesn't happen outside of Hogwarts."

"Well guess what? Voldemort. Voldemort, Voldemort Voldi, Voldi, Voldemort," James said immaturely. Sirius laughed at his friend and I looked at the two of them "You know I suddenly realised I have to be somewhere," I said, getting up

"Oh dear, please stay," Mrs Potter said, "It'd be nice having a girl around for a change."

"Yeah, stop making her worry Adeline," Sirius said and pulled me back down on the seat. I sighed "You know, I thought you hated us," James said, looking at me

"So! Who do you think's going to win?" I asked

"Definitely Godric's Gryffindor's," Sirius said

"Of course!" Mr Potter cried and began going through minute detail of how exactly his team was better. I sat there and pretended to listen until Mrs Potter had finally had enough "Alright, we'd better Portkey to the game then," she said. I got up gratefully and went over to the vase that would be the Portkey. Sirius and James ran upstairs to get even more memorabilia of their favourite team to throw in the air during the game. "So – what exactly should I call you?" Mrs Potter asked, politely

"Ariana Dumbledore," I said, pulling my sleeves down

"How are the Black's treating you?" she asked, concerned

"I'm a pure blooded Slytherin, don't worry, they treat me like family," I said.

"Oh, so it's just Sirius…" she began  
"Take care of him, he's a lot more fragile than what he appears to be," I said. She smiled

"You care about him don't you?" she said  
"Of course I do," I said as James jumped off the steps and came up to me with Sirius in tow

"Okay, mum, I'm ready," James said. We all crowded around the shoe and held on as we began spinning in the air.

I landed on top of James as we landed onto the ground "Would you get off me!" he cried. I rolled off, trying to catch my breath. I hadn't portkeyed in a long time "You alright dear?" Mrs Potter asked. I gave her a thumbs up as I gulped in air "Come on Addi! We need to go get our seats!" Sirius cried annoyed. I heaved myself onto my feet and walked along with them into a crowd of crazed Quidditch fans. Somehow I managed to get past them and into the seats. We actually got some good seats right near the goal posts. "Ah, good to see fresh meat," we turned to see a middle aged man painted in Godric colours grinning at James and Sirius, who grinned back "Long time fans, first time audience," Sirius said

"That's good to hear, who's your favourite player?" he said and suddenly a thirty minute pre-game conversation rolled out about the game – no, a conversation you could ignore, this was like a cheering/screaming match. I rubbed my temple, wondering whether I would get a headache "And you, little miss, who do you support?" I turned to the middle aged man and wondered whether I should tell him I didn't want to talk about Quidditch, but thought otherwise. He might've thrown something at me during the game or hex me "Harriet Burrows," I said.  
"Ah, excellent choice – they say she's the best female Quidditch player in the A league," he said

"I know," I said, shortly, hoping he'd leave me alone

"Wait – how do you know Quidditch? Last I remembered you slammed into a tree at home and Reg had to fish you out," Sirius cried, overly loudly.

"I'm no good at it, but I enjoy listening to the games," I said, shrugging. It was like what I had said was too complex for Sirius to understand "How can you not be good at it if you like it? – Well I'm trying out for Bludger this year," he said

"Seeker," James said, "That position HAS to be mine." And a whole other conversation began as I looked out on the field and began hoping the game would finally begin. That was when I looked down far below the crowd onto the ground and saw a black coated figure. I'd seen Bella wear a coat similar to that – it was a Death Eater. I cursed under my breath and turned to Sirius to tell him it was best we left only to see him huddled with James and the middle aged man, singing the anthem for Godric's Gryffindor's. He looked completely happy and enjoying himself – would it be alright to just let him be for once? At least he could hold onto this as his happiest memory during the holidays "I need to go to the bathroom," I said and got up

"Oh – I can come with you," Mrs Potter said  
"Uh – no thanks," I said, "I mean – I think the twins are beginning to annoy the crowd and someone needs to leash them." I said, pointing to Sirius and James. She sighed

"I guess," she said as I turned and quickly made my way out of the seats and back to the corridors outside. How did you get to the ground floor? I found some stairs and run down them as quickly as I could. They went lower and lower down the stands and I finally felt grass underneath my feet. I walked quickly through the maze of posts holding the stands above and stopped as I saw a black, cloaked figure. What was I going to do? I couldn't use magic! I had to slowly tail him, I thought to myself. I carefully crouched down and began inching closer and closer to the Death Eater. At the moment, he was completely alone – which was odd. Didn't Death Eaters work in groups usually? I came up behind him and thought of how Allastor Moody looked before turning my kitometrix and morphing into him. It was an odd and unpleasant sensation having one of my eyes whizzing around. I made my way to the Death Eater and shoved my wand into his back "Hold it right there!" I said. The Death Eater whizzed his wand around, but I slammed my arm into his and he jumped back, with his wand falling out of his hand. "Resisting arrest aye? Have something to hide?" I asked. He put his hands up and was backed against the wall. I used my wand to pull his mask off and saw a bald man behind it. He had symbols tattooed all over his head. As I looked at them, he suddenly slammed his knee into my arm and my wand fell away. He grabbed my arm and twisted it behind my back. I cried out in pain "That's a rather feminine cry," he muttered, laughing, "Are you really Allastor Moody?" he twisted my arm more "W-who are you?" I asked and he laughed again

"I asked first," he said. He pulled at my wrist and I cried out again "SPEAK!" he roared. I didn't know what to say to him, so I kept quiet "Fine, have it your way," he said. He pulled his free hand to face his wand and it rose up from the ground and flew to his hand. "_Revelo_!" he cried to me and I closed my eyes, waiting for something to happen, but it didn't. "What spell are you using woman?" he barked, "If you had of been a Death Eater you would have killed me already – so who are you?" I cried, "And what are you doing here?"  
"Someone you should fear witch," he whispered into my ear. I gaped and tried my best to turn and look at the symbols that were on his scalp, but he twisted my wrist more "You know, maybe I _should _end it," he laughed and I felt his wand on my back. I closed my eyes, wishing with all my might that Sirius would be able to get out of the stands alive as I felt his wand warm "Let her go Mirette," a familiar voice said from behind us. "Sebastian?" the bold man asked, surprised. I felt his grip loosen and immediately yanked out of his hold. I looked to see Uncle, uncloaked and standing their patiently. "Ariana, turn back now," he said, evenly. I couldn't believe he was here. I quickly turned the kitometrix back and did as I was told. The bold man looked in surprise at me and his eyes glanced at the device on my chest. "So you've found a disciple," Mirette said, "She's quite young – are you planning to die any time soon?"  
"The younger she is the more trained she'll be," Uncle said. Mirette turned to me

"My apologises little miss, had I known you were one of us, I would not have laid harm to a hair on your body," he said. I got up and dusted myself off

"What are you doing here?" I asked, confused, rubbing my arm

"Voldemort has asked me to cause a commotion at this game," he said, simply.

"You know that is against the ruling of our kind," Uncle said

"Actually Sebastian, it's only against the ruling if I were to use ancient magic and reveal myself," he said, "But seeing as I will be using a wand, it's quite legal." I had expected Uncle to fight him, but they were chatting to each other quite pleasantly. I walked over to Uncle and Mirette ruffled my hair "You shouldn't hesitate so much you know," he said.

"I can't use my wand," I said, "I was hoping to trick you."  
"Is there something faulty with you?" he asked

"No – the ministry doesn't allow underage magic," I said. He looked up to Uncle and Uncle sighed

"She'll be getting to her ancient magic training this year," he said. Mirette rubbed his arm  
"Well she is certainly very skilled in physically attacking people," he said. I smiled  
"I'm sorry about that," I said.

"You shouldn't be here Mirette, you need to go back to Tirrana for the meeting," Uncle said

"I was on my way there now," Mirette said, "I just needed to do this little bit of business."  
"I don't understand – won't you kill people by doing this?" I cried.

"Oh no dear, just inflicting some fear," Mirette said, "Why?"  
"Someone I care about is in the audience," I admitted. I expect Mirette to toss my aside, but he thought for a moment before turning back to me "I tell you what, why don't you watch this 'Quidditch game' and tell me when you're beloved one leaves, then send me a signal and then I'll put on the show?" he said. I frowned, was Uncle going to stop him though? I turned to Uncle and saw him nod, before turning back to Mirette "Okay – thanks," I said. He smiled

"It's been a while since we've seen a child in Tirrana, Sebastian you should introduce her soon," he said and pinched my cheeks and finally produced a piece of candy from his pockets and gave it to me "You should go and let me speak to Sebastian," Mirette said, "I'll be waiting at the entrance for your signal," he said. I nodded

"I'll see you – soon?" I asked Uncle

"I'll appear when I need you," Uncle said and I was left with nothing but to exit this odd encounter. Mirette was one of the evil ancients that wanted to take over wizarding kind – so why had he been so nice? I rubbed my wrist as I made my way back to the stands only to find the game had begun and Sirius and James were standing on the railings in awe. I sat on my seat and smiled as Sirius innocently enjoyed the game. I'd do anything for him and Regulus – even face death.

…

The siren rang out and Sirius, James and Mr Potter joined the other fans in cheering for their team. I moved over to Mrs Potter "Is it alright if we leave soon – I don't feel so well," I lied.

"Of course dear," Mrs Potter said getting up and calling to her boys  
"But, but we need to celebrate!" James cried

"We can do that outside," I added and Sirius glared at me as I pulled them away from the crazed fans and out of the stadium. I saw Mirette standing idly at the edge of the corridor, still alive. I smiled and nodded to him and he winked before getting up and walking towards the stadium. "WE WON!" James cried and the people who were leaving with us cheered as well. I continuously pulled them out of the stadium and they kept resisting, wanting to stay and chat. That was until they heard the screams. Everyone stopped what they were doing and turned to look back at the corridor. "We should get out of here," Mrs Potter said. Mr Potter had his wand out

"We should go help," he said  
"The children," Mrs Potter said sternly and he sighed and nodded before rushing us down the corridor. We got out of the arena and made it back to our reserved Portkey "Look!" Sirius cried. We looked up at the sky to see a skull with a serpant crawling out its tongue. "Come on, let's go, everyone hold onto the portkey!" Mrs Potter called. We rushed over to the Portkey and held on together. We immediately began swirling in the air before landing at the Potter Home. I fell onto the couch and let out a sigh of relief, we'd made it out okay. "I should go back and check what happened," Mr Potter said, grabbing his wand

"It'll be dangerous," Mrs Potter said, "Shouldn't someone go make sure the Ministry is alerted?"  
"Do you think anyone's injured?" James asked concerned

"I'm sure it's nothing," I said

"How could you say that?" Sirius cried, "There could be people who are injured there."  
"If the Death Eater wanted to injure people he would have launched his attack during the game where he'd be able to hurt the most people in the stands," I said, "This seems to be just a fear mission."

"You seem to know an awful lot about Death Eaters," James said, distastefully and for the first time his mother didn't reprimand him. I shrugged "I work in the Hog's Head," I said, "We get Death Eaters coming in all the time."

"Shouldn't you alert the ministry?" Mr Potter asked, frowning

"There's just as many aurors as there are Death Eaters. They're all under surveillance already," I said, "And besides, as long as they pay, who cares?" I said

"Sometimes, I hate you Adeline," Sirius growled, "You say the worst things."

"I could say the same thing about you," I said, softly.  
"Well you stay here," Mr Potter said, "I'll go check what's going on." He touched the Portkey and disappeared. "Go freshen up dears," Mrs Potter said and she looked at the spot her husband had disappeared from. I walked with the other two and went into the bathroom and washed my face. Sirius avoided me, which was hard seeing as we were in the same house. I went back into the lounge room and we sat there in silence, waiting for Mr Potter to come back, which took a few hours "Dad!" James cried, "What happened?" He looked completely fine

"A few people have been injured," Mr Potter said, "But nobody's dead and we couldn't find the Death Eater."

"Oh," Mrs Potter said, "But there's a trail right?"

"Nothing – not even Apparation Dust," Mr Potter said, speaking of the magic left behind that could be used to trace a person if they'd apparated from the scene. "So they just disappeared off the face of the earth?" Mrs Potter asked

"That or he's concealed where's he's apparated from," Mr Potter said, "Either way, we'll find him."  
"Right, well I'm just glad you're alright," Mrs Potter said, "Let's have dinner."  
"Actually," I said, slowly, "We need to be getting home."  
"No we don't!" Sirius cried, "Mum's not coming home till tomorrow!"

"You know she'll check on us," I said, tired of fighting with him.  
"No she won't!" Sirius cried, "Come on Adeline, can't I stay the night?"  
"Absolutely not!" I cried, "For all we know, Aunt Walberga will apparate straight after the party and find us not in our rooms."  
"Stop being like this!" Sirius cried

"Like what?" I asked

"So bossy!" he cried,

"Sirius I AM TRYING to keep you happy!" I snapped, my temper had burst, "Do you really think I wanted you to come to the Quidditch Game? Like it or not, you're a Black and being seen going to a Quidditch match with a family accused of being blood traitor's would make you the prime target of MANY Death Eaters. You can hate me for it, but I want you to live!" Sirius' face darkened  
"What did you just call them?" he hissed. I looked up at Mr Potter  
"I don't mean any offense at all, but it's a fact that you're called blood traitor's among the Pure Blood's," I said, softly as I relaxed.  
"There's no offense taken," Mr Potter said, "And I am really sorry – I didn't know Sirius was in so much danger."  
"I'm not!" Sirius cried, "She's lying!"

"Just calm down," I said, softly, "Places where wizard's gather are prime targets for Death Eaters. I just think you and James could hang out at home – or maybe at the park. That's all – and if you come home now I can bring you back next week."

"Whatever," Sirius snapped and turned and walked upstairs with James to get his bag. I sighed

"You care about him a lot," Mrs Potter said, softly  
"Yeah, well he's the few people I have left in this world," I muttered and collapsed on the couch. I heard Mrs Potter talk to Sirius to coax him into forgiving me, but when Sirius had said his goodbye's he still looked mad.

We made our way out of the community and along the streets in silence. We stopped on the street the Knight Bus usually took us from and I looked to see Sirius was still upset. He usually had the face when he knew we were going home again, but this time, it was more pained. I sighed and grabbed his hand "Come on, we can stop off somewhere before going home," I said. He didn't say anything, but he followed me as I made my way around the suburbs trying to put off taking Sirius home.

"Adeline," Sirius said softly behind me after twenty minutes

"Yeah?" I asked, turning around to look at him

"Are we lost?" he asked. I sighed

"Yeah," I admitted. I'd been hoping to 'stumble' across a muggle shopping centre or café strip, but we were still in suburbia. He looked around us and I watched his clouded face "Sirius – I'm sorry," I said, ashamed, "I'm just afraid I'm going to lose you."  
"I'm not going anywhere!" Sirius cried and held onto my hand, "And if I did I'd bring you along with me." I looked up and he smiled at me, "You're like my little sister Addi. I'll take care of you – like Marcel would have." I smiled warmly and squeezed his hand

"Little sister? And who's been taking care of who?" I joked

"Okay, you're more like an incredibly annoying older sister," he said, grinning, "Come on, we'd better get home." He pulled me along hand in hand down the street, trying to figure out where we'd gotten to. We saw a park and three people our age were playing there. "Let's ask them," I suggested and pulled Sirius along. As we got closer, I saw a girl with fiery red hair "Hey –doesn't that look familiar?" I asked  
"Evans?" Sirius asked.

_Hey everyone, hope you like the extra long chapter and thanks fflight for your review __ I'll be working on it!_


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter

Severus was the first one to act, jumping on his feet and reaching into his pocket, only to find nothing there. Lily looked at us in surprise "Black? What are you doing here?" she cried

"I was just about to ask Snape," Sirius said, eying him suspiciously. I gripped onto Sirius' hand to make sure he didn't do something stupid. "Severus, what a pleasant surprise," I said, but he wasn't listening to me. He was glaring at Sirius who was glaring back at him. "Who are you?" a blonde haired girl said sharply. I turned to the girl "Ariana_ Dumbledore_," I said, emphasising my last name like I always did. Her face soured up "You're related to that principal of the freak school aren't you?" she spat.

I looked at her surprised "Freak school?" I asked, "I go to Hogwarts."  
"Exactly," she spat. Lily stood between us

"Petunia go back and find mum," Lily said, eying me suspiciously. I looked from Lily to Petunia and back. They didn't look the same, but you could see some similar features – and suddenly it came to me "Your sister's a muggle," I said, shortly. She frowned  
"Go Petunia – now!" Lily cried, but Petunia didn't move. I rolled my eyes

"I'm not going to hurt your sister Evans," I said, sharply, "If anything, you're the one who likes to bully other's remember? My bracelet?" She immediately turned red  
"I did-didn't mean to do that!" she cried, "James gave it to me!"

"Yeah, since when have you seen James do anything good?" I asked

"Hey!" Sirius cried. I squeezed his hand

"No offense," I said, quickly and he relaxed. Lily noticed our hands entwined together and looked at the two of us "What are you two doing together? Is Sirius bullying you still?" Lily asked.

"No," Sirius said, not at all ashamed – which got a little on my nerves, "Turns out she's my long lost family friend." Lily's lips pursed

"What? Like 'Bella Black' family friend?" she asked. I smiled  
"I'm not going to harm your muggle sister – would you like me to do the Unbreakable Promise?" I asked her, sarcastically. She looked like she did want me to "Stop calling me that!" her sister cried

"What? Muggle?" I asked and she glared at me

"You know your sister looks nothing like you," Sirius said and Petunia glared at him too

"Who are you two freaks?" Petunia cried

"Ariana and this is Sirius Black," I said, "We're in the same year as your sister." I looked down at her shiny black shoes. One of them had the paint peeled off it "What happened there?" I asked, it was so visible. "Bloody freak magic," she snapped. She kept on calling us freaks, but she made no move to turn and go home. I put my hand out and tried to concentrate the magic in my blood into that section. The paint began crawling back to the same spot and the shoe looked good as new "H-how did you do that?" she cried.

"Even after we get our wands, our kind can do 'useless' tricks like that without a wand – and it's completely undetectable," I said, winking. By the look of confusion, I'd used too many words to get through to her. "What are you two doing together?" I asked Lily and Severus who were standing close to each other. "We're neighbours," Lily said. I turned to Severus

"Glad to see you're okay," I admitted. He nodded

"Yeah – thanks for before," he said in a small voice

"Don't you think you owe me some gratitude from saving your butt too? Get down and kiss my – ow, ow – OUCH!" Sirius cried as I squeezed his hand painfully.

"I haven't forgiven you for that yet," I growled and he had the decency to keep quiet as he rubbed his sore hand. "Get out of here Black," Severus snapped.

"What's the rush?" I asked, turning to Petunia who was looking at our exchange hungrily, "We're lost."  
"Well if you catch the bus over there, you'll get to King's Cross station," Lily said. I looked over at Sirius who was testing the playground equipment to see how it worked "Oh yeah, with Sirius on there we won't stick out at all," I said, sarcastically, "And I don't think you know this Lily, but in wizarding customs you usually invite guests over."  
"No! I don't want Sirius anywhere near us!" Severus cried

"Afraid of me Sevi-Sevi-Severus?" Sirius sung  
"Sirius, you really aren't helping," I said, softly. He shrugged  
"If anything Evans you shouldn't go anywhere near Snape. He's a pure blood loving snake," Sirius said, "He might even kill your sister!" I turned to the girl who was paling

"He doesn't mean that," I said to her.

"Lily!" a man said, from a house looking over the park, "It's time for dinner!"

"Dinner!" Sirius cried, eagerly.

"Get out of here Sirius," Lily cried.

"She's right Sirius, tell me where the nearest main road is?" I asked Lily. She pointed in some direction and I was about to go when a red headed man came up, grinning at all of us "What's this girls, made some friends?" he asked, beaming. Lily paled

"Er – ah, no," Lily said, not knowing what to say

"There Lily's freak friends from that school," her sister cried. The man frowned

"Now Petunia, what have I said about calling people freaks?" the man asked.  
"Morning Mr Evans," Sirius said, so politely even I was alarmed, "We've lost our way trying to get back to London and I'm quite hungry…"  
"Oh well we're just about to have dinner!" Mr Evans cried, "Why don't you come in and grab a bite to eat." Lily groaned and Sirius cheered up

"Thank you sir!" Sirius cried. I sighed as he bounded along with Lily's father.

"You'd better go Sev, before your father yells at you," Lily said frowning

"B-but Sirius could do something to you!" Severus cried, worried.  
"Don't worry, I'll put a leash on him," I said, "So relax. You can trust me." He analysed me for a moment, before nodding "Yeah, okay – I'll see you tomorrow Lily," Severus said. Lily smiled

"Yeah, I'll see you then," she said as Severus ran off across the oval. I watched him go

"He's a nice guy," I said, as I walked to Lily's house with her, "You should take care of him better by keeping the Marauders away."  
"Listen, I already feel guilty enough as it is with the werewolf incident okay? But look at you, you brought Sirius Black into my house – and I still don't really understand how you two know each other so well," Lily cried.

"I wasn't talking about the werewolf incident," I said, "I'm talking about every other time." Lily sighed

"I know – but he hates it when I get involved," she said

"Because he doesn't want to hurt you," I said as we made it to her home. She nibbled her lip as I walked into her house and saw Sirius was already setting the tables. He could invite himself into just about everybody's family, I thought to myself. "Hey Addie, check this out – they call it an 'ovum'," Sirius said, grabbing my hand and taking me to the kitchen "_Oven_," Mrs Evans said, blushing.

"Please don't show him the television," I told her and she giggled.

"It cooks things," Sirius said, pressing his face against the glass, "How does it get warm without magic?"

"Sirius, sit down and eat," I said, "We have to get back soon." Sirius sighed as I peeled him away from the oven and made him sit on a chair "Addie look – the numbers on the wall move!" he squealed like a child, pointing at a clock. He expected me to be ecstatic, but when he saw me un-amazed he pouted "How come you know so much about the muggle world?" he cried  
"I spent a while in it," I said, shrugging. The Midnight Dagger was purely muggle run. I also knew about things like muggle weapons that I never want Sirius to ever see. Roast chicken was brought out and Sirius devoured it before jittering to Mr Evans about the Quidditch game he'd just seen. Mr Evans was kind enough to pretend like he was very interest even though I could see he had absolutely no idea what Quidditch was or how it was played. Lily was trying to help him understand and Petunia was also listening in though she was hiding it. "You know," I told her as she played with her food, "Magic isn't that great." She jumped up

"Of course it isn't," she snapped, "It's disgusting!" I smiled  
"So I'm guessing if I told you I could give you magic you wouldn't be interested?" I asked, playing with her. Her eyes lit up and I immediately felt bad "How? Is it possible? Wait Lily told me it's not possible… How?" she cried.  
"What are you two talking about?" Lily asked, eying me suspiciously

"Just muggle school – it's very fascinating," I said, smiling innocently. Lily turned back to her father "Lily doesn't know about this type of magic," I said. Petunia looked hungry

"Is it Dark?" she asked, looking torn between fright and curiosity

"No – ancient," I said, quietly.

"I can show you my room," Petunia said out loud and grabbed my hand and dragged me upstairs to the surprise of her parents.

Once upstairs she shut the door and turned to me "What is it?" she asked

"I thought you didn't like magic?" I asked, innocently. She sighed

"Why did Lily have to get chosen? She gets chosen for everything!" she cried, "I wanted to go – to Hogwarts. I wanted to go so badly." I felt sorry for her, so she was the black sheep of the family.

"Magic isn't so great," I admitted, "There's a war going on right now and people are dying – and Hogwarts is not a nice place at the moment."

"Even with all that, I want to be able to brew magical potions – and have the power to fix this and cast spells!" she cried, pointing to herself. She had a plain face and immediately I felt an understanding. So she was somebody like me? "You don't need to change," I said, quickly, "You're perfectly fine as you are – like me." I said, pointing to my own face.

"But you have magic," she whined. I bit my lip – she was nothing but a muggle, surely it wouldn't hurt to show her a little magic? I mean who would she tell? "You have to swear you'll never tell a single soul what I'm about to do," I said. She nodded looking at me with the same excitement Sirius usually had on his face when I told him we were going out. I took my necklace and put it around her neck "What's a place in the world you've always wanted to go?" I asked

"Paris," she said, immediately. What was with women and Paris?  
"Okay, Paris it is," I said, thinking of the Eiffel Tower and pressing on France. A gust of wind caught us and when the girl opened her eyes she screamed and jumped back. "This is – _amazing_!" she cried, looking around herself. I smiled "Come on, I need to get you home before Evans freaks out," I said and quickly pressed England and we went back to her room "What was that?" she cried, looking at the necklace hungrily "Teleportation," I said, "Your sister can't even do that."  
"Really?" she asked, excitedly

"Really. Do you have a pen and paper anywhere?" I asked. She quickly got it out and I scribbled my address on it "This is the House of Black," I said, "Use Lily's owl to send me letters till I get back to Hogwarts, then you can send me letters there. If magic is what you want you can use me to do it for you. Once the novelty wears off you'll realise being a witch isn't all that good."  
"And if it doesn't wear off?" she asked, eagerly. I smiled

"I guess we'll just have to be friends forever," I said, shrugging. She suddenly smiled

"Thanks," she said, "And please don't tell my sister."  
"Don't worry – your sister and I – aren't exactly friends," I admitted. She didn't seem to mind at all, but to be honest, I didn't care. Petunia Evans was another me. One I wanted to take care of and nurture. The door opened and Lily came in with Sirius "What's going on here?" Lily asked. I picked up a jewellery box and handed it to Sirius "It sings without magic!" I cried and suddenly Sirius was enwrapped in the dancing ballerina and was prodding it with his fingers to get it to talk. I had to get it off him to make sure he wouldn't damage it. "We'd better be going," I admitted

"Mr Evans said he'd drive us home," Sirius said, "In a muggle car."  
"Having a muggle drive to the House of Black is the worst idea in the entire world," I answered, "If he can get us to Kings Cross station on the other hand I would be eternally grateful. I dragged Sirius away from Petunia's room and to Mr Evans who was waiting at the door. "Bye – um, what was your name?" Petunia asked. I smiled

"Ariana," I said

"Oh, bye Ariana – I'll write to you soon," she said. I smiled and nodded before leaving the house with Lily's jaw opened in surprise.

Mr Evans put up with Sirius' constant cries of excitement as we made it back to King's Cross station. "Are you sure you don't want me to drive you home?" he asked, "It's getting quite dark."  
"No, we can take care of ourselves. Thank you for everything," I said, looking around nervously. It would be the end of not only myself but Sirius too if we were caught with a muggle. Sirius himself also seemed to be nervous. "Thank you – bye!" he said and we waved him off before quickly walking back to the House of Black. "You don't think anybody saw right?" he muttered to me

"No," I said, shortly. When we were a good distance away from the station, Sirius relaxed and laughed "I can't wait to tell James Snape and Evans live on the same street," he cried. I grabbed him arm tightly and spun him around to face me "Sirius, don't forget for a moment that I haven't forgotten that you bullied me all of first year – or for letting Remus loose on Severus," I growled, "Even after all that, I've forgiven you because you were Marcel's friend, but if you tell Potter that Severus lives near Lily Evans then you'll push me over the edge, do you understand?" I asked. He paled

"But I have to tell James…he and Lily…" he began

"I won't be able to stand being near you," I said. He frowned and nodded

"Okay, I won't tell him," he said, his head was bowed. I grabbed him hand  
"Good, now come on. Let's get you home," I said, finally glad to be able to get to the Grimmauld Place.

…

"You ready yet?" Sirius' voice called from the door he was already opening. I quickly shoved my robes over my head "Would you knock?" I growled. He grinned and lay on my bed  
"I don't care about you being naked," Sirius said. Nobody had caught us when we'd gone out last time. Bella came in a few moments later – also not knocking. "You take too long," she mumbled. She shoved Sirius off my bed and sat down in his place. Sirius immediately came whining up to me. I ran my fingers through his hair "Bella, was that really necessary? The bed's big enough for two people," I said. She shrugged and studied her nails as her two sister's came in. "I hate her," Sirius breathed in my ear. "I know dear," I mumbled back and gave him a hug before letting him sit on the stool by my vanity table. There was a bruise on his cheek from where Aunt Walberga had thrown a plate at him for 'insulting the name of Salazor Slytherin'. I personally didn't like it when he did that either – but having your mother hurt you was hard and I could see Sirius was breaking, so I was particularly careful with him now and he was especially starved of affection lately seeing as I had spent the last week taking Yelena to fashion week and hadn't spent a lot of time with him. I hadn't been there for him when his mother had hit him either and the guilt was gnawing at me. I brushed my hair and straightened my robes before grabbing a bag "Where's Regulus?" I asked.

"Right here!" Regulus cried appearing in my room in clean and stylish robes. We were going to Diagon Ally to pick up the school supplies for next week when Hogwarts started again. Though I didn't want to go back, I knew it would be good for Sirius to finally get out of here. "You look nice," I said and he grinned, "Come on then – maybe I'll bump into a few new students," he said, grinning

"You already know all the important Slytherin's," Bella said, rolling her eyes.

"Oh yeah – right," Regulus said, his mood dampening

"I heard there are a few pure bloods sending their children to Hogwarts though - even though they don't live in England," I said, "You'll get to meet them maybe." He brightened again and I pulled them all down to where Aunt Walberga was waiting. Sirius avoided her and looked away. Aunt Wal had crossed the line and I doubted Sirius would ever think of her the same way. A group of black, sleek cars with tinted windows waited for us outside the home and we sat into them to get to Diagon Ally. I sat rigidly next to Aunt Walberga and Sirius quickly took his seat next to me before Regulus could, but Reg didn't mind. I had loved Aunt Walberga before, but to think she hurt Sirius began giving me second doubts about her. Was the Black Family really as homely as I had wanted them to be?

We made it to Diagon Ally and I looked around at the students quickly going about their business – afraid a Death Eater might hex them. Aunt Walberga pried me away from Sirius to go get new robes and I was her shadow for most of the day, following her every move and making sure not to disappoint her. When she finally went over to Bella's mother, Sirius rushed over to me "How was shopping?" I asked, holding onto his hand

"New posters are out of the Team A league," Sirius said, excitedly. I smiled  
"Well we'd better go have a look then," I said and he eagerly took me over to the Quidditch shop and I let him take his time. Regulus joined him and they eagerly went through each poster. "Adeline?" Aunt Walberga looked at me from outside the shop. I quickly went over to her

"I was escorting Regulus and Sirius to the Quidditch store," I said, quickly. Aunt Walberga looked over at her sons and nodded "Boys that age are always crazy over that game," she said, "But we still need to go over to the shoe maker, your shoes are appalling," she said. I nodded and followed her away.

We met the Malfoy's and they all sat down at a restaurant to sit and eat, which made the shop owner very uncomfortable. I sat on the couch reading the paper with Sirius leaning over my shoulder. "There – Incognito," he said, pointing to the word sleuth. Immediately the letters rearranged themselves again and again, making it difficult to find the words in the sleuth, but Sirius was actually good at these things. I watched him play and eventually he got bored and put his chin on my shoulder and settled with just looking out at the people walking by. "Just one more week," he mumbled more to himself.

"I should have taken better care of you," I said, guiltily look at the bruise on his cheek, "I'll take better care of you next year, okay?" I told him. He wrapped his arms around me

"Okay," he said, eagerly, "I love you Adeline."

"I love you too," I said, running my fingers through his hair and I could feel him calm down. There was something about Sirius' warmth that calmed me down as well and I could feel myself relax, just as I saw familiar blue eyes watch me from the corner of the street in front of us. "Sirius sweetheart," I said, "I need to go to the bathroom."  
"I can walk you," he said.

"No, you finish the word sleuth," I said, "I'll be back soon."

I walked over to the corner and saw Uncle waiting in a dark alleyway. I made my way to him "Did you sort everything out?" I asked him.

"No, but things are stable again," he said, "Which means we need you to get trained again."  
"Starting when?" I asked

"Now," he said. I frowned

"I can't – the Black's are waiting for me," I said. He frowned

"This is what I meant by developing relationships Ariana," he said, "They slow you down and make you lose focus."  
"Just give me a week. Hogwarts will start again and I'll give training 100%," I said. He sighed  
"The situation is tough Ariana, you could stumble on an Ancient tomorrow and they might want to kill you," he said, "You aren't taking this seriously enough."  
"I am," I cried, then sighed, "I want to start revenge – soon and I know I'm not ready."  
"On the auror's?" he asked, surprised. I nodded slowly

"I've been giving it thought on the holidays. Ericson is the same bastard he's always been. It's time to put a stop to it – and it'll help with my training so you can't complain," I said, "I just need to get stronger." He sighed

"A week," he said, "I will see you in a week." He turned and looked over at the restaurant I had come from "Who's the boy?" he asked

"Sirius? An old friend," I admitted

"Don't get too close. Love ends in disaster for us," he said. I smiled

"He's more like a – son," I admitted

"Keep it that way. I'll see you in a week then," he said. I nodded and Uncle walked away before disappearing into nothingness. A week, then I'd be thrown into the thick of it once more. I turned and went back to Sirius who eagerly lapped up the attention I gave him.

The last week I spent mainly in my room with Sirius always barely metres away from me. It was like I was a force field for him that got rid of all the hate and misery that this house held for him and I made sure to keep him away from his parents, but on the final day, Sirius was truly happy as we got ready to go back to Hogwarts and with his happiness came my dread of returning. The holiday was over, my work now began

* * *

_Hey everyone, I'm SOOO sorry this took so long! The holidays for me are over, so I had to spend some time having to re-adjust to life and so I'm barely at home to proof-read my chapters. I really hope you enjoy this chapter and I really want to thank everyone for the love they're all giving me. I want to thank fflight, my patronus is a mockingjay and Naflower05 for your reviews. Really, you guys make my day and to the person who inboxed me, you literally made my day. You're SOO sweet, but you guys also make me feel so guilty for not updating. I'll keep on trying to deliver and thank you so much for your love. I'll keep on working hard :)_

_A. Seshat_


	22. Chapter 22

"Goodbye Aunt Walberga," I said, nodding my head. She nodded back

"You will take care of Regulus," she said

"Of course," I answered before hugging Uncle Orion.  
"Goodbye dear, you should take care," he said. I nodded and then went over to Bella

"Remember, I won't be there anymore to take care of you," Bella said

"I know," I said

"I still don't think it's a good idea to be a healer at the hospital wing – it gives you this edge of – _weakness_," she said, trying to put her finger on it. I sighed, she'd told me this before.

"Yeah well I might owl you for advice," I said and she shrugged

"Alright, but have fun with Hogwarts – and I'd better see you during Christmas or _else_," she threatened. I smiled "Bye Bella," I laughed. I said goodbye to a few other purebloods before walking onto the train. Sirius was completely gone and I had a feeling he'd gone back into 'James mode' and I wouldn't be seeing him till the next holidays. I went into the toilets and turned back into Ariana for the first time in a very long while, it felt. "Ariana," Cleo called and I smiled, glad to see my old friend

"Cleo, how was the holidays?" I asked

"Well I am now a very wealthy woman," she admitted. We sat down in a compartment that they'd emptied and shut the door. "How so?" I asked

"I sold the apartments," she said, "And I can now not only pay you back, I can set up Yelena's designing shop and I'll still have eight times the amount of money you gave to me in the first place."  
"What are you going to do with it?" I asked, interested – and surprised. So Cleo was actually a genius – one of those prodigy children you read about.  
"You mean what have I _done_ with it," she corrected  
"I can't believe you spent _eight million _galleons already," Yelena scoffed

"A few more investment – and a mansion," she said, shrugging, "For us." I laughed

"Most groups of friends have friendship bracelets or clothes they share – not expensive houses," I said, shaking my head.

"Well we aren't your typical group of friends," Cleo said, shrugging. I spun my wand in my hands

"Got any more adventures for this year?" Yelena asked me, changing the subject.

"Well how does starting my revenge sound?" I asked Yelena. She leaned in

"What?" she asked

"You have a gift Yelena. I don't know where you get your information from but you seem to be able to know everything about everyone. Which is why I wanted to ask you if you could get me a list of the photos and names of all the auror's that were employed four years ago in the ministry," I said. Her eyes widened "Are you sure you're ready?" Yelena asked. I twisted my wand around and around

"I've thought about it and I've decided to begin by preying on the weakest of the group – the ones that destroyed my house, but didn't kill anybody. I want them to know I'm coming. Put in them the same fear I've had for so long. Then I'll pick them off one by one before leaving Ericson last. I'll make him go mad first, knowing that I'm coming for him, but not being able to tell anyone. Finally, I'll make him confess to his crime… then I'll kill him."

"Ariana," Cleo muttered and I looked up to see Yelena looking pale and frightened

"I won't kill them all," I said, quickly, "Just Ericson." Yelena furrowed her eyebrows

"No, Ariana you can rely on me! Don't be frightened to speak your mind. I think they should pay too," Yelena said, passionately. I smiled at how hard she was trying to be someone I could rely on.

"Well can you get the info?" I asked. Yelena frowned

"I don't think so," she admitted, "We live at Hogwarts which is why the information is so easy to get. I've never even been to the ministry before."

"We haven't gotten the information before because we haven't really cared about the ministry, but now that we want it, we'll get it all," Cleo said. I smiled

"Good, Yelena find somebody in Hogwarts who has a family member working in the Ministry's record sections and if Cleo doesn't mind, maybe she can persuade him to give up the information," I said. Cleo smirked "I don't mind," she admitted.

"Good, I'll be training with Uncle then. I hope what he's got in store for me isn't as bad as the Midnight Dagger," I admitted.

"Well now that we have the idea of a death mission out of the way, what else did you do on the weekend?" Cleo said, sarcastically. I grinned

"Learnt how to bake," I teased and the two of them burst into laughter.

I spent most the train ride telling them about what had happened to me and in turn they'd shared their stories. Yelena had taken notes down at the fashion week and already had ideas for the business but needed the money and Cleo had spent most of her time getting away from her family and selling the houses she'd restored and buying new ones. "The new mansion I got is huge," Cleo said, "Has an indoor and outdoor swimming pool, lots of rooms – a ballroom – everything! It came cheap because of its location – but its location is why I bought it," Cleo said, turning to me  
"Why?" I asked, curiously. She smiled

"It's in Siren Waters," she said. Siren Waters – _Number 47 Echoes Entrance, Siren Waters_, that was the Westwood Manor. My old home. "Oh," I managed to say

"I thought you'd might like to visit. I know it might be painful – but – they're buried there you know," Cleo said. I hadn't visited my family's grave. I was so afraid somebody would kill me in the process. "How is it?" I asked, softly.

"Westwood Manor? The ministry tried to sell it for a high price, but apparently the grave robbers put some sort of curse on it. It's why the mansions are so cheap. Siren Waters is almost completely deserted. People say the curse has affected the town – but how's some pesky grave robber supposed to curse a whole town? They wouldn't be strong enough," Cleo said. I shrugged, glad to hear my home was not inhabited by somebody else. I wonder what had happened to my once beautiful, regal family home. "Ariana, are you okay?" I looked up to see Yelena looking at me, concerned. "Fine," I lied, "I just need some rest, Sirius kept me awake all night because he was so excited about Hogwarts."  
"Then get some rest," Cleo said, "You won't be getting any when we get to school." I nodded

"Yeah, I think I will," I agreed and leaned against the window. I closed my eyes and felt sleep take me.

Strong arms grabbed me and pulled me away from the crashes and bangs of the house and I screamed and writhed away from those hands, but nothing would loosen their grip. The leaves under me were stained by the blood red of my body and I could see the now pale corpses of my dead siblings and cousins "NOO!" I shrieked, "NOOO!"

"Somebody shut her up," a heard one of them say – like they had tried to shut up Lucy, I thought to myself and got even more agitated. They threw me into a bag, but I fought them off, but to no avail '_I swear I'll come back! Nobody shall touch Westwood Manor until I return! I'll make you proud daddy!_' I had spat as I'd been covered by the bag and tossed onto a broom. I opened my eyes in a start and saw Cleo and Yelena jump at my sudden arousal. "What's wrong?" Yelena asked, but I didn't answer. That dream had been a recollection of the time the grave robbers had taken me and it made so much sense It wasn't uncommon for eight year old's who'd just gotten their gifts to accidentally curse things. Promising things with their whole heart causes a wave of emotions which is usually what fuels a magic surge. "I cursed the manor. The manor's mine. The ministry can't touch it, till I step foot in it again – I cursed it when I was eight" I said. Silence followed, but I could almost feel the two of them understand what I'd said.

"Well from afar it's nothing but ruins," Cleo said, "It looks rather creepy actually."

"Once my revenge is over, I'll take the mansion back," I said, "And demand the Westwood possessions to be mine again as well."  
"What? Are you going to go tell the ministry you're Adeline Westwood?" Cleo asked, "They'll realise that the only aurors that are being attacked are the people involved in the destruction of the Westwood Family and you'll be the prime suspect."  
"I don't care," I said, "I'll make myself so strong by then that they wouldn't be able to do anything about it."  
"They'll always be someone else stronger then you," Yelena said, "I mean – have you seen Allastor Moody? That guy freaks me out with his crazy eye." I smiled

"It's all in the future – why don't we focus on the present right now," I said.

"Yeah – it's been so long since we've been at Hogwarts I've forgotten how I'm supposed to act," Yelena said. I smiled "It'll come back to you," I said, "Slytherin's ours remember?"

…

I sat at the Slytherin table and watched the first year's getting sorted. "Black, Regulus!" Professor McGonagall called. Reg slowly went up to the sorting hat and looked at Sirius on the Gryffindor table in fear before closing his eyes and waiting for the Sorting Hat to say what house he should be in "Slytherin!" it called and I clapped as Regulus raced down to the table and was welcomed warmly by the Malfoy's and his cousins. He looked around the table and settled on me and grinned. I was glad he could even spot my other face. I smiled and clapped for him and he took a seat with his fellow first years. After dinner Yelena pushed us up into our dorm and showed us the things she'd made on the holidays and I tossed to her the robes Aunt Walberga had given me. If I wore them Sirius would easily be able to distinguish between me and Ariana, but having first hand clothing was nice. I wouldn't have to hide my trunk now from others. Yelena exhausted us by making us put on all her clothes. When they were done they went to bed, but I stayed up and couldn't stop thinking about Westwood manor. My family was buried there and I hadn't even gone to visit them. Cleo had said it lay in ruins, but I wondered whether the sun room was still there were my mother would often put me on her lap and read me a story. "Ariana," I spun around to see a heavily cloaked figure in my room. "I could have sworn you were a dementor," I joked

"It's been a week," he said. I nodded  
"I'll go get changed," I said.

"There's no need," he said and offered me his hand. I took it and felt a cool rush of air before I was engulfed by trees. "Where are we?" I asked

"Forbidden Forest," Uncle said shortly.

"I thought we were going to the Ancient Realm," I said. He laughed

"Not yet," he said, "I want peace of mind that you can defend yourself first."  
"Haven't I proven that already with the underground fighting?" I asked him

"You don't fight with your fists in our world," he said, "You need to learn how to use the kitometrix." My heart beat increased – I was going to finally learn how to use the thing on my chest! "Turn it to three o'clock," he said. I did as I was told and pushed down on the centre. Heat suddenly filled my body up and I felt my limbs thin out and my hair grow longer. When I opened my eyes, I jumped back. My field of vision had increased dramatically – it felt like I could see from the sides of my head as well as forward. It was making my head hurt "It'll take some time getting used to," he said. I pulled at a long piece of hair and saw it had turned white and my arms and legs were filled with markings I hadn't ever seen before "The White Mage," he said.

"Aren't white mages from muggle fantasies?" I asked,

"Fantasies are born from realities," he answered. I got up  
"I feel – weak," I admitted

"That's because this form isn't made for physical fighting," he said, "It's for healing." White robes were draped around me and I could actually see my skin literally glow "Get used to be the body – and here," he said and dropped a whole bundle of books into my arms. I tried to catch them, but my body was so dainty I fell onto the floor "You'll need to have these memorised," he said. I was suddenly glad I'd gotten up to third year material because something told me I wasn't going to be able to do any homework during this year. He held one particularly heavy book and opened it to a page "Your entire body is made to heal, your voice and your limbs. You'll need to learn how to sing healing songs and heal through dancing," he said, "There are also special words you say in your mind that can heal people. This is one simple healing move." I looked at the images dancing on the page. Uncle grabbed something from the floor and tossed it onto the floor – an injured bird "You're killing animals?" I asked him, lowering onto the bird who looked like it had given up on living

"It's easy finding injured animals in the Forbidden Forest," he said, "Now heal it or it'll die." I looked at the book and saw the hand gestures. I circled my hand in the air and flicked my wrist. White specks of light surrounded my wrist and hand as I put my palm on the raven's wound and concentrated on seeing the wound close up. I was still concentrating when the raven jumped up and flew away. "Impressive," Uncle said, "I couldn't get the healing spell for a whole week."

"Really?" I asked, surprised

"Healing is my worst subject," he admitted. I grinned

"What's your best subject?" I asked

"Summoning," he answered. I frowned

"What _is_ summoning?" I asked, confused. He smiled

"I'll tell you when we get to it," he said. I sighed, again with the secrets! I yawned as I was thrown an injured toad and did it again and again, till it came naturally. "Study the books, they're more important than school," he said

"Uncle's aren't supposed to say that," I said, as I tried doing a different spell in the book that healed better than the first one. "Please be serious Ariana," he said  
"Yeah, yeah," I muttered as I got up and stretched my long limbs, "This is a lot more boring than I expected."

Yeah, it'll get more interesting when you read the books," he said, dumping the books into my arms. I dropped them and turned back into the real me. "I'm going to bed," I mumbled

"Read the books," Uncle said, "I'll see you tomorrow," he said.

"Yeah," I mumbled as I picked up the heavy books and he held onto me to get me back to the dorm.

"Goodnight Ariana," he said

"Goodnight," I muttered as I tossed the books into my trunk and curled back up into bed.

It felt like a second had gone by before Yelena was jumping on me "Get up Ariana, it's time for the morning ritual," she said. I sighed and got up, wishing for more time to sleep – if only I could sleep in class! But no – today was the day I showed Bella's empty spot as Queen Bee was mine for the taking. I did the normal morning ritual and took one of the healing books out of my trunk and put it into my bag before going down to the common room "You – _prefect_, where are the first years?" I snapped. She jumped up, in surprise "Um – in bed I'm guessing," she said, shakily. I glared at her

"Get them up, from now on, we eat breakfast together, I don't want a repeat of last year where those bloody Gryffindor's would have some of us hexed in the corridor, understand?" I said, sharply

"Er, um – okay," she said, slowly.

"Good – then wake them up!" I snapped and she jumped into action. I walked smoothly out of the common room and over to the Great Hall. "I don't understand," I muttered, "Bella had them crawling over themselves to please her."  
"That's because she didn't care about anybody else – and she hexed people," Yelena said.

"So I should hex people?" I said, slowly

"No Ariana, you need to stop caring about people. The more you boss them around the less mysterious you become. You need to draw them in," Cleo said

"Urgh," I groaned as I dropped onto my seat, "That'll take forever."  
"Not really, you just need to show them how interesting you can be. A rumour here and there and a few more hexing sessions and you'll be the talk of town again," Cleo said.

"You make it sound so easy," I mumbled. I turned to see Regulus in the crowd of first years looking for somebody on the table of students. I knew who "Regulus," I called and he looked at me. He seemed to remember me from yesterday

"Adeline?" he asked

"Ariana," I emphasised. Cleo pulled away slightly and Regulus sat next to me  
"You look so different," he admitted looking me up and down.

"Doesn't she just," Lucius mumbled as he sat down on the seat in front of me with Narcissa Black by his side and a few other of the pure bloods I knew. "Oh yeah, you're all used to it right?" Regulus asked. "Timetables!" Slughorn called, then he looked at me, then Regulus beside me "And whom might you be?" Professor Slughorn asked

"Regulus Black, sir," he said. His eyes shone

"Black? As in the Pure Blood Black Family?" he asked

"Yes sir, my father's the head – Orion Black," Regulus said, confused

"An honour to meet you young sir," Professor Slughorn said, then looked at me next to him

"Have you got ties with the Black Family, Miss Dumbledore?" Professor Slughorn said. Was it any of his business? "Ariana is Regulus' fiancé," Narcissa blurted out. The entire Slytherin table became silent. _Act cool, act cool, act cool_, I repeated in my head. "Yes sir, the Black Family and I go back far," I said, smiling warmly.

"Is it true?" he asked, his eyebrows raised. I'd never actually gone through the topic of my engagement with Regulus to Regulus, himself.

"Yes," I said, daring to agree, "Walberga Black made the arrangement."

"Walberga Black? I know her. Strict woman who stuck by her blood as they said back then," he said, "You really must be extraordinary to have gained such approval in her eyes," he said, not even bothering to pretend like he cared a twelve year old was engaged to somebody. "Thank you sir, that's very flattering of you – but I guess it's in my blood," I said. His eyes narrowed in curiosity, "My timetable?" I asked, before he could ask anymore. Reluctantly he drew my timetable up and gave it to me before handing Regulus his one "I'm having a little get together to welcome some of the first years on Friday and I would appreciate it if you came," he said.

"I would be glad sir, thank you," Regulus said. He took his time table as Professor Slughorn moved on. "I'm sorry Regulus," I said, quietly, "If you don't want to get engaged, it's fine – I mean Aunt Walberga was really tossing ideas into the air-"

"I know," he said

"Pardon?" I asked

"I knew about the engagement. Actually, as soon as my mother came home with the news you were still alive she told me to win your heart," he said, "She said the Black Family deserves the best and that Westwood Blood would be the best suited to being the Lady of the Black Family. I didn't tell you because – I was embarrassed – I don't see you as blood Adeline. You're my friend – I hope you know that." He was red and was looking away shyly. I smiled warmly and held onto his hand

"I do," I said. He smiled at me

"I'm kind of happy we're engaged," Regulus said, "That means we can be together forever!" I couldn't help but laugh at him. "Yeah," I said, quietly as I ate my toast.

Regulus' 'friends' i.e. the boys of the new first year group quickly grabbed him and pulled him away. Being engaged to a second year girl was apparently something considered 'cool' and he was now a hot item. "Well there's the mother of all gossip," Cleo said as we made our way to Transfiguration, "Now you just need a good hexing match."  
"Ariana!" I looked over to see James standing with the Marauders by the door to Transfiguration  
"Remember as Ariana, you still hate them cause they jinxed Severus," Yelena muttered

"I don't know what I'd do without you," I muttered as I glowered at them

"Come on Ariana, that's old news," James said, winking at me, "Even Severus has forgiven us for that."

"I doubt that," I admitted as I leaned against the wall casually.

"How was your break?" Sirius asked, smiling at me and ruffling his hair. He tried to act so cool in Hogwarts, but all I could see was the puppy who woke me up every morning to go onto the swings in the park. I shrugged and looked away "Come on Ariana – me and Sirius went to go see a Quidditch match," James said, egging me on, "With that girl – what's her name again? Annie?"

"Adeline," Sirius said. I tensed, how could say my name after the million warning I'd given him!

"Where is she anyways?" James asked. Sirius shrugged nonchalantly

"Don't know," he said, "But anyways, the Quidditch match…" he said and began going on about the players. Typical, I thought to myself dryly, when we were at home and he needed me I was the centre of his attention and now that he was back at Hogwarts with James he didn't care where I was. I wasn't actually angry at him – I mean how could I be? Even though he'd followed me like a shadow at home, I couldn't get the thought of the bruising he'd get from his relatives when he'd done something wrong out of my head. At least here he was happy and safe. "…anyways, then Rodgers made this amazing throw straight into the middle goals," Sirius said

"Sirius, I don't care," I finally said. Sirius pouted

"Oh come on Ariana," Sirius cried

"On another note, are you going to finally try out for the team?" he asked. I stiffened

"I have better things to do with my time," I said

"Like what, combing your hair?" Marlene sneered. Obviously, she hadn't learnt her lesson from last year. I glared at her – the trick here was not to retort – retorting lowered me down to her level

"Come on now Marlene, play nice," James said

"Yeah – but it wouldn't surprise me, your hair's really nice," Sirius said. I turned to him, wide eyed as did most of the people lining up. He cowered "What? You have nice hair!" he cried,  
"In we go class," Professor McGonagall called

"Thank goodness," I muttered as I walked past Sirius.

We were learning how to turn inanimate objects into different animated ones – so a rubber into a mouse. I got it in one go as did Cleo, but Yelena blushed as it took her a few times till she got the spell "Sorry," she muttered to me. I few people looked at her oddly, but I brushed it off. So she hadn't been studying? "You know I have a victim for my hexing partner," I muttered to the two of them. "It's Marlene isn't it?" Yelena asked. I grinned at her as I watched Marlene laugh with Alice Prewitt and Peter Pettigrew.

…

The door to the empty girl's bathroom opened up and Marlene walked in. She slipped her bag to the floor and opened the tap and washed her face. She looked at her reflection in the mirror before opening her bag and getting make-up out of it. She grabbed some mascara and slicked some onto her eyelashes – geez make-up that thick? No wonder she looked trashy this week "Who are you trying to impress?" I asked, walking out of the cubical. She jumped and mascara ran down her cheek. She looked down at her bag quickly, but I flicked my wand and her bag flew far out of reach "What do you want?" she hissed.  
"I let your smart mouth run free last year, but you know what? I don't think I'm going to tolerate it this year," I said, smiling coldly at her. She threw her mascara down

"Fine then, let's fight princess," she growled, "One on one."

"_Please_, I don't want to get my hands dirty," I said. She rushed towards me and tried to actually make a swing at me. I grabbed her hand and twisted it before kneeing her in the stomach. She coughed and fell to the ground "What the hell?" she managed to gasp out, "How the hell did – did you do that?"  
"You're much too pathetic to actually fight me," I said, grinning darkly, before pointing my wand at her, "I've gotten stronger now, nobody can bully me like that anymore," I hissed, before hexing her.

…

I went down to dinner to see Regulus waving at me from a crowd of first years. I smiled back at him before taking my seat with Yelena and Cleo "Think she'll show?" Cleo asked

"I wouldn't," Yelena snorted.  
"She will," I said, "Marlene's a proud girl." Sure enough Marlene limped out into the Great Hall. Her hair was a birds nest – literally and her body was tattooed with graffiti of every profound word you could think of. The teacher's quickly got to her and ushered her out, but the damage was done. Sure, my hexes looked worse than what they actually were, but it got people talking and that's what I needed. "Bit far, don't you think?" Yelena said aloud

"Not far enough," Cleo said, "She deserves more."  
"Next time, I'll hex out her tongue," I snapped, before biting into my dinner – there now everyone would know it was me, I thought gleefully.

True enough, word spread and when I walked into the Slytherin common room people jumped out of my way. Ah, so this is how Bella felt. I was finally the Queen of Slytherin, everything was mine. I walked up the stairs and was about to retire when I heard Regulus call out for me "Ariana!" he cried. I turned and saw he looked worried

"What is it?" I asked him

"We need to talk," he said. I let him pull me away "It's not true is it?" he asked

"What?" I asked

"You hexing that girl – Marlene," Regulus said, looking worried. So this was the consequence, huh?

"And if it is?" I asked him. His forehead knotted

"It can't be – the Adeline I know wouldn't hurt anybody," he said

"Yeah and Adeline got bullied when she came to Hogwarts," I said, "Trust me Regulus, Marlene deserved it."

"Stop it Adeline – I'll take care of you – you know your family wouldn't approve of you hurting other people," he said. I froze, my family? I could almost see my mother's disappointed look

"Adeline? Adeline, I'm sorry – I didn't mean to go that far," Regulus called shaking me

"No – you're right," I muttered

"I'm sorry – she probably deserved it," he said, quickly, "But if anybody's hurting you tell me! I'm your fiancé aren't I? It's my job to take care of you." I smiled at Reg

"Yeah – okay," I said, slowly. He hugged me tightly

"Will you be alright?" he asked. I nodded and he let me go back upstairs to my room. I fell onto my bed and thought of my parents. No – Regulus was wrong, Marlene deserved it. She was so annoying! She was the one that had come up and decided to test me. I hadn't asked Marlene to call me names? I was just protecting myself. I crawled into bed and closed my eyes.

"Adeline?" my eyes opened and I was sitting in my mother's lap. She was smiling at me "Don't ever change Adeline," she said, just like that night so many years ago. The scene changed and she was dead beside my father. I had changed, I'd changed so much she wouldn't recognise me if she saw me.

"Ariana," I jumped up, sweating

"What?" I hissed, looking around me

"You were supposed to meet me in forest an hour ago," I heard Uncle reply. I looked at the clock and realised it was one am in the morning. I pulled my sheets off "Sorry," I mumbled, "I'll be out in a moment."  
"Are you okay?" Uncle said, grabbing my shoulder. I shrugged him off

"Fine," I muttered before going into the bathroom to change. When I came out he was sitting on my bed in his cloaked form "You know you look like Death," I muttered, thinking of the bedtime stories I'd been told. "He's not such a bad fellow," my Uncle replied,

"You sound like you know him," I said as I took out the book I'd been reading

"He's an ancient – or well, his line is," he said. I looked at Uncle in disbelief

"You know death? From the fairy tales?" I asked, incredulously

"Well I know his great-great…I don't know how many greats grandson," he said. I sighed

"Right, well it keeps getting weirder doesn't it?" I muttered as I grabbed the book and waited for Uncle to take me to the forest, but he sat there watching me. "We're wasting time here," I mumbled

"You seem upset," he said. He chose to give me a family talk now?

"I'm fine," I lied. He looked at me carefully

"Ariana – this realm isn't somewhere you belong anymore," Uncle said, "And it's that fact that almost certainly makes sure you will be miserable with any ties you make here."  
"Trust me, I didn't fit in before when I didn't have the kitometrix. I just don't fit in because I don't," I said. He got up

"How would you like to visit your new home with me tonight?" Uncle asked

"What – the ancient realm?" I asked, excited. Uncle's head nodded and I smiled "Really?" He took the necklace around my neck and instead of touching anything, he twisted the globe. It began to light up and suddenly golden light showered all around me and danced into shapes. The light shone onto everything in the room and I was afraid I would wake my friends up. Soon everything was disappearing around me. I closed my eyes and waited for this feeling to stop.

* * *

_Hi guys, sorry about the late chapter again...but it's long...so I don't know if that makes up for it :) Enjoy_


	23. Chapter 23

The feeling of flying disappeared and I felt solid ground beneath me – but the air felt different. It felt like it was trying to soothe me. I took a deep breath in and felt myself calm. "You can open your eyes Ariana," my Uncle said amused. I slowly opened my eyes and looked around. I don't know what I had been expecting, but around us was a lush, green forest. In front of us was a shimmering gate that seemed to be made of crystal "That, my dear is what you'll be guarding," Uncle said, "The road between the two realms."

"I thought the ancient world was like the wizarding world – we live among the muggles," I said, confused. He smiled "Some of us do – the American Ancients live in the underground system in New York," he said  
"The sewage system?" I asked, wrinkling my nose

"It wouldn't make sense until you saw it," he said, shaking his head and looked beyond. I did too and saw an enormous city growing out of the rainforest around it. A waterfall fell out of the floor of the city situated on a hill and it fell out onto a calm lake underneath it. "It's beautiful," I admitted – expecting – well I really didn't know what to expect. "Welcome to Tirrana – or the Enchanted Forest," he said.

"You mean the Enchanted Forest – the one with all the fairies?" I asked

"Tales usually sprout from some sort of truth," Uncle said, smiling, "This is one of the two main Ancient settlements in England."  
"Where's the other one?" I asked

"Camelot," he said. Camelot…King Arthur's Camelot? I could see a twinkle in his eyes as he regarded me with amusement and I decided not to ask. "Come on, I've been keeping you from them for a while," he said. I followed the path along the lake and looked down to see mermaids, singing in the water. They looked up and I jumped, expecting them to jump up and curse me like they did to students in Hogwarts, but they smiled and waved. "Magical creatures are quite fond of ancients," Uncle said, laughing at my reaction. This place was painfully beautiful. Deep blue waters with flowers under the water's surface and the forest looked so lush and green. An enormous white head came out of the lake and this time I fell into my Uncle "D-d-dragon!" I cried as its snake like body pulled out of the water  
"Harmless," Uncle said, pulling me back up. I expected it to open its mouth and throw ice shards at me like I'd read water dragons liked to do. I walked quickly to get away from it and found stairs leading up the hill and to the city. I climbed up the stairs quickly and found myself by a toll booth. I looked at the man sitting there - he had symbols all over his body and inhuman eyes that were as blue as sapphires "Name?" he asked.

"Er – um," I stumbled

"Ariana," Uncle said aloud, "She's my disciple." The man looked at me with his eyes wide open

"You finally brought her," he said, "We've been waiting patiently for you."  
"Oh – I'm sorry," I said, slowly. His face began to change and two – cat ears popped out of his head  
"Let's have a good look at you shall we?" his sapphire eyes shone brightly as they turned into slits  
"You know you're scaring her," Uncle said, pulling off his cloak.

"She gets pretty frightened for a gate keeper," the cat-man said

"She just a kid," Uncle said and pushed me forward and I gladly moved on, but the man left his post at the gate and began following us. "Um – is he allowed to do that?" I asked, wonderingly

"What leave? To actual get out of the Ancient City everyone except gate keepers need a passport. Nobody's issued out a passport, so we were the only people expected today," he said.

"Oh," I said, glancing at the cat-man from the side. The city was beautiful – it was built into the forest in a way that the city and forest were actually one. It was like beautiful, tree houses built into each other and the street lamps were staffs of wood with blue light shining from above them. "You think this is grand, you should have seen the old city," Uncle said

"What do you mean?" I asked, him

"Back in the old times, we had enormous cities all over the world. We could boast our power openly then," the cat-man said, "Men would come from around the world to see our cities and buy our wares – but the Dark Ages destroyed them

"It's why there are so few Ancient's now," Uncle agreed  
"I don't understand," I admitted

"Women were killed and thought to be witches – surely you've read about that," Uncle said. I nodded "Well most of the women killed weren't the witches and wizards you get at Hogwarts – those who need wands. It was Ancients they killed."

"We almost got completely wiped out," the cat-man said, "We had to go into hiding."

"Compared to the cities of old, this one is but a single home," Uncle said, "you have a few smaller dwellings all over England and of course Camelot, but I think you'll like this one best. It was built by Ancients who have gifts over nature, but it's inhabited by all." So that's why the homes look like they've been made out of the living trees around us. "Who do you have there?" a woman asked with pale skin and red eyes. Her hair was literally a flame framing her face. "Ariana, my disciple," Uncle said. The woman turned to me and I was frightened of her at first, but she lowered down and smiled at me "She's cute," she said and beckoned me to come closer. I slowly did and she pinched my cheek "Little young to be your disciple," the woman said. She took something out of her pocket and handed it to me "You look hungry," she said. It was chocolate. I really liked chocolate so I ate it and she laughed at me "How cute," she said again.

"You'd better be off Dasma or you'll be late for work," the cat-man said. Dasma waved at me before she left. "Most of the children from Ancients live in the muggle world as children," Uncle said, "You're a bit of a hot commodity here." I smiled – I had the oddest feeling here – like I was at home. I felt so safe and warm, something I hadn't felt in so long. I felt I didn't have to struggle here anymore. "This way," Uncle said. He led me up steps that were made out of the roots of a tree all the way up to the highest level of the city and I looked at the beautiful homes and little lakes around me that all joined together to create the waterfall that fell into the large lake below. Flowers, animals, odd looking people and incredibly beautiful people were all in the streets and smiled at me. Everything was open plan. I could literally walk into people's home off the street and see them sit and eat lunch. Time was so different here, it seemed night in the real world, was day in the Ancient Realm. I raced up the stairs to a regal looking house and followed Uncle into it. "Is Lord Sasar here?" Uncle said, to a Minatare

"Right in here," a voice called. Uncle walked in. A middle aged man was there with long, silver-brown hair and hazel eyes. He looked beautiful. He was about to greet my uncle, until he saw me "Ah, so you've finally brought her," he said

"Ariana, at your service," I said, offering my hand. He stared at my hand before laughing and pulling me into a hug "She is so adorable," he said. Nobody had ever really called me cute ever, but today I'd heard it twice. "Well Ariana, I'm Sasar," he said, "And Tirrana is my city."  
"I-It's very beautiful," I admitted. He laughed softly

"I'm glad you like it so much," he said. I stepped back, but he suddenly picked me up and held me in his arms. "Is she a muggle?" Sasar asked Uncle

"No, a witch," Uncle replied, "From England. She's quite skilled with a wand." He was softly patting my head and I kind of liked the feeling – in fact, I really liked being picked up too. Nobody back home would ever consider picking me up. Not Uncle Abe or the Uncle sitting in front of me and certainly not the Blacks. "She's quite young, maybe you should keep her here for a while before training her."  
"She's already well into her training," Uncle said, "She looks small, but she's already a notorious fighter in Hong Kong." I knew at the moment, pushing my head closer to this man's hand for him to scratch my head more I looked nothing like a notorious fighter. "She looks like she can barely hold herself up off the ground," another voice said  
"Kai," Sasar growled. I looked over to see a boy who looked sixteen or seventeen with his arms crossed looking at me disapprovingly. He had pale skin and dark, black hair and black eyes. He was very handsome and he wore all black "Is he your son?" I asked Sasar. Sasar snorted

"Goodness no," he said. I looked at his black boots and saw frost forming on the ground and mist bellowed around him.

"Ariana this is Kai, he's next in line to be Death," Uncle said. I looked right back at his face – this was Death? From the stories? I pulled in a little more to Sasar "She's afraid of me," Kai scoffed, "How is she supposed to be a gate keeper?"  
"Leave her alone," Sasar said, cooing at me softly, "She's just a little girl."

"He's not going to kill you Ariana," Uncle said, "He's only the Prince of Death."

"No - I could probably kill you," Kai said, correcting Uncle, "But unfortunately, you're not on the list."

"Teenagers," Sasar muttered rolling his eyes. I slowly pulled away from Sasar, an idea forming in my head "Wait, if you're death – then can you bring people back to life?" I asked. He snorted

"No," he said

"Ariana, his line is like ours – they're only gate keepers, nothing else," he said.  
"Oh," I said, upset

"You've lost someone close to you," Kai said, "I can show you them again, for a price." My eyes lit up "Really?" I asked, "Yes! Please!"

"Kai," Sasar said, sounding tired

"Hm, how about your first born – or maybe your soul…" he said

"My what?" I asked, surprised

"Kai!" Uncle said, more forcefully. Kai grinned sheepishly

"I'm just kidding," he said. My eyes watered

"So you can't show me, my family?" I asked.  
"Look what you've done," Sasar growled and pulled me in again.  
"Geez, what is it with girls and crying," Kai muttered.

"Ariana, remember to let go of your past," Uncle said. I nodded slowly, but the idea of being able to see my family again had been so wonderful! "Why don't you go play on the streets outside while I speak to your mentor," Sasar cooed. I nodded and walked away from them and down the steps back into the street. "Hey wait up!" I turned to see Kai running down the steps. I turned and ran down, not wanting to speak to him, but suddenly he was in front of me "You really think you can run from Death?" he asked.

"Leave me alone," I growled  
"I kind of can't leave anyone alone," he said, shrugging, "You need to remember I'm Death."  
"Wait? So I'm going to die?" I asked, alarmed

"No – well I mean, eventually," he said, "I've never had to explain myself before, it's kind of hard."  
"You know it wasn't funny what you did back there," I growled. He grinned sheepishly

"Sorry, we don't get many new people around here, I couldn't help myself," he said. I looked at his feet to see the flowers around them were dying "They'll grow back once I'm gone," he said. The people in the ancient realm were weird. "So – how old are you?" he asked, "You smell pretty young – and full of life." I pulled away

"You aren't going to suck my life force away are you?" I asked, quickly. He smiled

"Not with the kitometrix on your heart," he said. He lifted his hand to touch me and I flinched. He stopped and waited for me to calm down like a frightened animal and curiosity got the better of me and I stayed still and he put a cold hand on the bare part of my shoulder. I waited for my flesh to rot, but nothing happened. His hand was just very cool to the touch. "See, nothing," he said.  
"Oh," I said, "Um – I'm twelve by the way. How about you?" I expected him to say three hundred

"Sixteen," he said. I was a bit disappointed and I guess he saw it, "I stop aging once I hit eighteen."

"Oh – same here – but seventeen for me," I said. I didn't know how to tell Cleo and Yelena later that I had spent the night having a conversation to death about ceasing to age. "It's different," he said, "You stop aging on the outside, but your heart still ages," he said, "You have the life span of a human."

"Oh – how about you?" I asked

"Once a new line is began and they turn eighteen, we cease to exist," he said

"So if you have a kid and they turn eighteen?" I asked. He nodded

"My father waited seven hundred years," Kai said. I had no idea what to say to that, so an awkward silence fell over us "You go to Hogmorts, right?" he asked

"Hogwarts – yeah, that's my school," I said, surprised he knew about it, "How do you know about it?" He smiled

"Some of my workers are getting 'employed' there," he said. My eyes narrowed suspiciously

"Workers?" I asked. He grinned

"Dementors," he said  
"Dementors are yours?" I asked, surprised.

"You've met one?" he asked

"I've read about them," I said.  
"Lovely pets aren't they," he said, "Ministry of Magic feeds them for me for free." I suddenly realised who I was talking to. The fact he was Death had been unbelievable at first because he looked like a sixteen year old boy, but now, at the way he simply described dementors sucking people's souls as 'pets being fed by somebody else', I realised how twisted he was. "I think I heard my Uncle calling me," I said, quickly and turned, but he was right in front of me – as if he apparated there

"I didn't hear anything and I can hear a lot better than you," he said.

"Oh, you didn't?" I asked, backing away from me. He walked along with me, smiling

"You're frightened, I can smell it," he said. I was hoping beyond all hope I would walk into somebody else from the town that could save me. "L-leave me alone," I stuttered

"Oh come on, that pretty little thing on your heart makes sure I can't feed away at your life," he said

"Kai," I snapped around to see a pretty woman growling at Kai, "Leave the little girl alone." He shrugged "I'm just messing with her," he said

"She's just a kid," the woman growled. I tried to teeter over to the woman, but Kai grabbed my arm and picked me up and held me in his arms. Sasar I'd liked picking me up, but I froze when Kai did it. "We're having fun – aren't we Ariana," he said, breathing cold air into my ear. I paled and couldn't formulate words. The woman looked at us suspiciously "Come over here dear, you can play at my house," she said. I sighed in relief and pulled away from Kai, who put me down, but began following me. I was led up some steps that were created by the roots of the trees around us and got to an open space house found at the canopy of the tree. I looked out to see the rushing river below us, making its way to the waterfall. This place was painfully beautiful. "Would you like something to eat dear?" the woman asked

"Um, I'm not that hungry," I admitted

"Okay, I'll make you something small," she said and went over to her kitchen and flicked her hand and suddenly things were crashing out of the shelves and into a pot. I jumped at the sound "Not used to magic?" Kai asked

"Hogwarts is a wizarding school," I said, "I'm not used to that kind of magic."  
"What you mean waving those sticks around? That's not actual magic," he said.

"Oh? And what is?" I asked him. He pulled out a black leather gloved hand out and pulled his glove off before light began swirling in his hand. The light turned blue and suddenly it looked like water rushing all around. It was beautiful. The swirls began forming a shape and suddenly a Threstral jumped out and began growing. "Hey! I don't want any of those in my home thank you!" the woman cried. "Can I ask you something?" I said, looking at the now fully grown Threstral in the room, "Why can only people who've seen someone die see those things?" I asked

"Someone dying opens up the gate to death," Kai said, "And people who see someone dying get a glimpse of that gate too. Threstrals are another of my pets. They are the steeds of the gate keepers. All it takes is one glimpse, but the spell is broken and the creatures of the gate can be seen by them for the rest of their lives, until they finally walk past that gate themselves."  
"So can they see you?" he asked

"I'm a bit more powerful than mere Threstrals and dementors," he said, "I can be seen if I want and if I don't, even _you_ wouldn't be able to see me."  
"Kai, please be nice to her," the woman's tired voice rang out, "And get rid of the Threstral." He sighed and sliced his hand into the air. The threstral shattered into ash which seeped through the flooring. I jumped at the explosion and Kai laughed "You really aren't used to ancient magic. Has Sebastian even taught you how to use the kitometrix?"  
"I'm learning now," I said. He smiled

"Ever turned the dial to six o'clock? It belongs to the best ancient clan we have," he said, "Why don't you turn it now?" Something told me it would be bad if I did

"I think I'm going to help out with food," I said, I had this vibe Kai was going to either get me hurt or into trouble. I walked over to the kitchen and suddenly black mist appeared out of nowhere and a nanosecond later it turned into Kai. It was so fast it was literally apparation. "You know you get surprised too easily," he said, grinning at the look on my face. I walked around him and hands came out of nowhere and gave me a bone crushing hug "She's so cute!" a shrill voice cried. I looked up to see a girl with moving symbols on her face. "Felix's been spreading word about you," she said

"Felix?" I asked

"The official at the gates of the city," Kai explained sitting up on the kitchen bench

"You're so skinny," the girl said

"I'm working on that," the other woman who's house we were in called

"My name's Flaia," the girl said, "Goodness, half the town is already talking about you. It's been a while since we've had someone new in town – especially someone so cute." She still had her arms around me "I'm Ariana, it's nice to meet you," I said, a little dizzy from what she'd said. She screeched "Aw!" she cried and cuddled me again. I lost my footing backwards as she let go of me and an arm caught me and steadied me. I looked up to see Kai with his hand on my shoulder. I pulled away, but he pulled me closer "Would you relax? I'm not going to hurt you," he growled, "You're an ancient now."  
"Kai, don't be so mad at her," Flaia said, sitting down on a stool in an array of colours as her dress began changing colour and style. Everything from her moving tattoos, dress and personality were confusing and made you dizzy, "She came from a different realm. To her, death is supposed to be feared," she said.

"Well then let go of the past," Kai growled,

"He's a bit sensitive," the woman said to me, "Every time he goes to the modern realm all the girls scream and curse at him."  
"I am not sensitive!" Kai barked, "And I'll have you know when I'm not there for business the girls love me!" I couldn't help myself but giggle at his wild nature. Silence fell into the room

"You made her laugh!" Flaia cried and the other woman smiled warmly at me as Flaia hugged me again and Kai left his arm on my shoulder.

Within five minutes I was pretty sure the entire city was here, ogling at me. A lot of the inhabitants were actually quite regal people who were intimidating – until they began doting over me. "Ameeret, have you fed her yet?" somebody asked for the tenth time

"She's been fed," Kai said, who was still next to me. He'd told me a minute ago that he liked staying close to me because I smelt young and fresh. "Ariana?" I heard Uncle call

"Uncle!" I called back

"She calls you uncle?" somebody asked, "Can she call me Aunty?" I blushed and pulled into Ameeret – the lady who's home it was' hold and she held onto me "Ah, the cities been invited, huh?" Uncle said. I smiled "Yeah, everybody's really nice," I said

"Of course they are – after all they have nothing better to do and you're the first twelve year old to grace this city for two hundred years if you exclude Kai," Uncle said. I was sure Kai was much more beautiful at twelve then I could have ever been. "Well you have to go to school Ariana, or else people will wonder where you've gone," Uncle said. I liked it here, everyone doted over me and I felt so at home. "Ariana," Uncle said, more sternly

"I'm coming," I said and got up finally. I was tossed from person to person as they all hugged me goodbye and told me to come soon. Kai decided to come out and take us to the gate "Everyone's so nice," I said, "I really like this place."  
"Of course you do, it's your home," Kai said, "You're an ancient now." Right, I was an ancient, but I was born in England. "You still need to meet the Lords and Lady's," Uncle said, "Those back there were the street people." Lord's and Lady's? Hadn't I met one already? "And now that news will spread of your coming, they will be very upset with me if I do not hurry up and introduce you to them," he said.

"They have a set of rules they live by," Kai said, "It's not in their nature to go to a common person's home for anything. You have to go and introduce yourself." Kai was becoming some sort of guide for me. We got to the gate and we stopped "Will you be coming with us to England?" I asked him. He grinned "I don't think you'd like that. I might stumble across one of your friends and accidentally suck their life out." I paled.  
"Oh," I said. He leaned in

"What? Does the flat-chested twelve-year-old kid have a crush on me?" he said, grinning. I turned bright red "NO! As if, you sneaky little two faced goblin," I growled. He laughed

"You're just going to have to come visit me here," he said

"As if I would!" I snapped,  
"Oh come on pet," he said, enjoying himself, "You're so interesting I don't even mind babysitting you for Sebastian. Who knows, maybe next time I'll cave in and let you kiss me."

"Kai," Uncle warned, "Ariana is a very serious and mature disciple of mine – but you're still picking a fight with a twelve year old girl."

"See you next time Ariana," Kai snickered as he walked off. I watched him go

"You can come back tomorrow Ariana," Uncle said, "It seems you're more useful than I thought."

"I just can't believe Death literally awaits me at this place," I muttered to myself as I twisted the necklace around my neck.


	24. Chapter 24

I ended up telling my friends nothing. I mean how was I supposed to explain that I'd spent the night talking to Death? "You alright Ariana?" Yelena asked, "Has your Uncle been pushing you too much?" I shook my head "I'm fine," I lied. I was actually exhausted, but oddly happy – like I'd found an actual home – not like the House of Black that wanted me for my blood or Uncle Abe who had kicked me out but closer to my old home with my mother and father. "Maybe healing has been draining you," Felicity Crabbe sniggered.

"Pardon?" I said and in that one word I loaded all the venom in my voice. She paled

"It isn't like I have anything against it," she explained quickly, "Just – it seems like you're healing the people you're attacking – don't you think it's a waste of energy?" She wasn't the only one who seemed to find the fact I liked to heal as odd. I liked healing – but I had hurt so many people to get to the position I was in as Head of Slytherin and this was far more important to me than a hobby I happened to like. "Well you would be glad to know I'm quitting," I said, pretending as if it were nothing as I examined my nails. I could feel Cleo give me a questioning look "I have far more important things to do with my time, don't you think?" I shot Felicity a look

"Of course," she said, quickly  
"I'm hungry," I said

"I'll get you something," Rita Blackthorn cried and raced off to the kitchens. I looked around the room at the Slytherins who were all positioned to try and get closer to me. We really were like snakes, but instead of looking for heat, we warmed ourselves on power. So this was what it was like to be on top. "I need to go study," Yelena said and excused herself

"No you don't," I said, quickly. What was she saying? Saying she needed to study in front of all these people? She was ruining everything! "I don't?" she said, confused  
"No, you need to sit right back where you were," I snapped. She quickly sat back and a few people sniggered at her. Cleo shot an eyebrow up at me, but I rolled my eyes and ignored her. Didn't they understand how fragile the position we were in was? "I heard the ministry's gotten the dementors into the grounds now," Felicity said, "Idiots think it's going to ward off the Death Eaters." So they were already out and about? "Frightening thought isn't it?" Cissa said, curling up on the couch, "I mean what happens if they kiss us?"

"They won't," Felicity said, "They're nowhere near the castle. They're in the Forbidden Forest."  
"Really?" Yelena said. Felicity smirked

"I thought you'd know all about it," she said, "I mean don't you three always know all the rumours?" She was trying to undermine my rule "Of course I knew," I said, stoutly

"Then you'd know where the Death Eaters are positioned, right?" Felicity asked. Stupid snake, I thought to myself. The room went silent, waiting for my answer "Ariana?" I looked up to see Regulus smiling at me. He seemed like he'd just come back from the library, "I heard from Augustus that you can bring a partner to this welcoming party Slughorn's made," he said

"That's right," I said, softly

"Do you want to go with me?" he asked. I smiled warmly at him

"Of course," I said. Finally, someone was doing something right. Regulus grinned and raced back upstairs. Everybody forgot about the question and I got up quickly and retired to my room before Felicity could pick up the topic again. I didn't notice Yelena sitting in the same place she'd been beforehand, looking like she was on the verge of tears.

That night I wasn't woken by my Uncle. Instead, I felt a shiver in my spine and could see my mother dying in front of my eyes. I jumped with a start and fear crept inside me. I got up and slowly walked over to the open window. Why was it so cold? "H-hello?" I said, looking outside.

'_To the roof dear'_ the wind seemed to whisper to me. I gasped and fell onto the floor before crawling quickly to my bed and getting my wand _'Unless you want to see your friends die' _I froze, who the hell was this? I looked at Yelena and Cleo sleeping soundly in their beds. What was going on? Who would want to harm us? Was this an ancient? What if last night was all a façade and they actually wanted to kill me? I would rather die than watch somebody I cared about get hurt again. I tightened my grip on my wand and decided to go to the roof.

As I made my way down the hallways and dodged the prefects, I thought of all the people who I could have gone to for aid and realised there weren't many. In fact, the only person I could think of was Uncle and even then I didn't know how to contact him apart from by letter. Usually he just appeared when he needed me. If worse came to worse, I could use my necklace to hide Cleo and Yelena. I found the stairs to the rooftop and began climbing up them before opening the trap door and climbing up the steps till I could feel the night breeze around me. I was shivering, but it wasn't because of the weather. I was frightened. I didn't want to die. I felt the cold wash over me "Cute stick," I jumped and slammed into the floor and crawled away, before turning. Kai was standing there with two dementors flanking him. He no longer looked like a teenager who happened to like the colour black a lot. He really looked like the prince of Death, but I let out a sigh of relief – then burst into tears of relief and fright. I was embarrassed I cried so easily, but I had been so frightened. "Geez you cry easily," he said, crouching over me. I looked up and suddenly – I hit him. I hit him hard and then did it again and again "Hey, cut it out – hey!" he cried before restraining my hands

"You idiot!" I shrieked, "You frightened me half to death!"  
"That's a bit of an exaggeration," he muttered. I glared at him

"I'm sorry, Sebastian asked me to get you," he said.

"Why did you threaten my friends?" I cried, "I thought you were going to kill me!"  
"If I had appeared in your bed room I would have killed them!" Kai explained, "You do understand I tend to suck the life force out of people I'm in close proximity to."

"You could have told me that," I hissed and pulled my wrist out of his hands

"It was pretty funny," he said, offering me a hand to help me get up. I glared at him and got up myself, before jumping back onto the floor. Two dementors were standing in front of me. Tall, thin and hooded. "Relax, they aren't going to hurt you," Kai said. I crawled away from them before getting up "You know you're such a wimp," Kai continued as he looked at me in disappointment, "This is Alfred and this is Ben," he said. He named dementors? This idiot was going to be the next Death? "Shake hands," he said. One of the dementors glided over and I jumped and as much as it hurt my pride, I hid behind Kai. He sighed and softly grabbed the hand I was gripping onto him with "Come on, they really aren't all as frightening as the ministry says they are – at least not to you," he said softly and guided me from his back which I was hiding behind to his front. He held onto one hand and his other hand was on my back and it really was comforting knowing he was within an arm's length away from me. One dementor glided over and I tightened my hold onto Kai's hand. A ragged sleeve was lifted and it offered it to me. I was shaking, but I extended my hand "That's it," Kai encouraged. I took a bit of his sleeve and shook it "I-I-It's nic-nice to m-m-meet y-you," I stuttered. Kai pulled me back and I had to say I was glad he did, even though he was laughing at me "You really need to learn how the Ancient World works," he said, leaning over me and grinning.

"Why?" I asked

"You actually came running to _me_ for help from a dementor," he said, laughing, "You do realise what I do to people is much more frightening right? They're just like puppies to me." I frowned and he grinned "Don't worry, I won't hurt you – but if it had been anyone else I would have thrown you to the dementors to have them feed off your soul." My mood soured – how could anybody find that funny? "Come on," he said and dragged me after him.

I didn't have to use my necklace, Kai could take us to the Ancient City without it and soon enough I was filled with the warm, safe feeling of the place. Kai didn't look nearly as frightening anymore as he grinned at me "Come on," he said

"Where's Uncle?" I asked as I had to run to keep up with his long legs. I hoped I had legs as long as his when I was sixteen. "Entertaining the nobility," he said, "But we need to get you ready. You don't actually want to go dressed in your night gown right?" I looked down and saw the white gown Bella had got me for my birthday and my white, fuzzy slippers "No," I admitted and followed him through the groups of people on the street. "In here," Kai said and didn't hesitate to pick me up and drop me into the door way "I could have used the steps," I growled. He shrugged as I was suddenly thrown into the air. The wind in my lungs was forced out as I was practically crushed "You brought her!" a voice called from above my head. "I-I-I can't br-breathe," I hissed  
"Okay Ridella, that's enough," Kai said and helped me out of her grip. I gasped from breath before jumping once more at the square pupils looking back at me "Geez," Kai muttered as I looked at the woman with a frog face – literally. "What's wrong dear?" her large lips said as they moved. They went around her entire face. "N-nothing," I fibbed

"She needs a dress," Kai said

"Well of course!" the frog woman said and grabbed my hand and dragged me into the store. Her hands felt sticky and I shuddered away as Kai followed. There was a beautiful Japanese divider with geisha laughing amongst each other and waving at me "Stay on this side boy," the frog woman said, waving a finger at him. Kai sat down on a seat while I was thrown onto the other divider. "Take your clothes off," the woman said. I blushed and she laughed "How cute," she said  
"There's nothing there for you to be ashamed about Miss flat-chest," Kai cried from beyond the divider. "Shut it Kai," the woman hissed and I heard him snigger. To be honest, I wasn't one to shy away from taking my clothes off in front of other women. Kai was right in some aspects. I took my clothes off and suddenly a flying tape measure came out and began measuring me up. "I think I know just what would look nice on you!" the frog woman said and literally hoped a dozen metres in the large shop and picked something out. She hoped back and suddenly thousands of butterflies began circling and came together around me – to form a kimono like wrap. There was a pattern of beautiful butterflies on it and the material of wings looked so delicate. "There, you look beautiful," the frog woman said and showed me a mirror. I always shied from mirrors in this state, but I looked up out of curiosity. It was nice, really nice. I didn't look beautiful – but it made me look like a lady and delicate – almost an illusion of beauty with no real spell. "U-um, thanks," I stuttered. She suddenly wrapped me up into another bone crushing hug and I was worried about the butterflies. "Oh everyone was right about you," she said, "Stay over here, I bought you something and I just know it'll suit you." She turned and hoped off down the store and I decided to walk out and over to Kai. He looked up "Sheesh, way to ruin a dress," he said. I couldn't help but smack him on the shoulder, but he burst into laughter as I sat down next to him after getting up a few times to make sure I wasn't killing the butterflies. "Kai," I said, quietly after a few moments

"What?" he asked

"Did I really ruin the dress?" I asked. He put his arm behind me and relaxed

"Why's looks so important to you?" he asked. Why were looks important? Nobody had asked me that before "I don't know," I said, slowly, "I-I think it's my family – I could never quite suit them. My family was always so – so pretty. And now in Hogwarts, nobody cares about me. Nobody likes me – except for my two friends – but I still get lonely."  
"I like you stupid," he said. I looked up at him surprised and he grinned at me, "Don't get the wrong idea, but have you noticed how everybody in town treats me?" I shook my head and for a nano-second his cocky look disappeared and he look hurt, but as if I'd blinked, it'd gone "Nobody in this realm likes Death much either. I'm not counted as a person really, more a thing that has to be tolerated." Is that why Uncle had said everybody was excited to see me more so than Kai – or why everybody kind of acknowledged he was there, but never really seemed to want him to be. "I think you're a person," I said, "And I like you too." He grinned

"Then what are you getting so wrapped up about looks for? Trust me, you don't need them. Don't make me say this ever again, but you seem fine the way you are," he said. My heart warmed and I smiled brightly to him "You think so?" I said, grinning

"Whatever – anyways, talking about looks I've actually met models before," Kai said, "Beautiful ones – threw themselves at me!" he cried and continued going on about his adventures. I smiled and pretended to listen to him intently. He liked me for who I was – he was another true friend I could write down on my very short list.

The frog lady came back with a golden butterfly that flew over to me and settled in my hair. Suddenly, it began fluttering and my hair began doing itself till it looked nice. "That's yours now," the frog woman said. Though she looked so frightening, I liked her. "Come upstairs to my room, you look so skinny dear, I would love to feed you," the frog lady said. Kai got up

"I'm sorry, but she really has to go now," he said. I got up and smiled

"Yeah, I guess I'd better go," I admitted, "It was nice meeting you." She pulled me into a bone crushing hug "You must visit soon," she cried. I smiled and agreed and Kai led me out.  
"That took longer than expected," he admitted as I struggled to keep up with him to get around in the shoes I was wearing. Kai didn't say a word about my lack of pace as he waited patiently for me to catch up to him. I golden bird speckled in the air and flew daintily towards Kai and I saw a piece of paper attached to its foot. As it got nearer, it exploded into a shower of golden fireworks that scorched the paper as it flew into Kai's hand leaving burn marks telling Kai to hurry up and bring me to the lunch "Does all ancient magic have to be so dramatic?" I asked as I grabbed onto his arm to climb up some root steps without asking. "Real magic is dramatic," Kai answered as he helped me climb the steps before getting to a second pair of gates with a beautiful guard "Ariana, it is lovely to finally meet you," the long haired man said, ignoring Kai's existence.

"And you too," I said, unsure of who he was. He grinned

"I am the guard for Lady Elsa's home," he said, "My Lady is expecting you." He bowed as he let me and Kai enter and I could have sworn I saw him laugh as I struggled to shuffle over to the large house made of glass and trees. I climbed up some steps and got to the enormous entrance covered in wildflowers. Kai led me through it and inside a gazebo which was fashioned more like a room, looking out over the waterfall and you could see the mountains in the distance. It was beautiful – as were the people who stopped to turn and look at me. "Um – hello," I said, in a quiet voice. I shied behind Kai as they shuffled over to me quickly. A beautiful woman with black hair and green eyes smiled at me to show dazzlingly white teeth "This must be Ariana," she said in a musical voice and bent down to look at me. She offered me a hand and I took it, mesmerized by how beautiful she was "I'm Lady Elsa," she said, smiling, "Seems like the commoners were right, you are very cute." I smiled

"Thank you," I said, blushing, "You're very pretty too." She laughed musically and held onto my hand  
"Daniris," Elsa called and an equally beautiful man appeared, "This is my husband." I offered my hand thinking of all the manners I'd been taught. He smiled and in a graceful movement picked me up and held me in his arms. "She's your disciple? She's so tiny Sebastian," he said. Uncle came out from among the crowd "Would you like me to take her back to the modern realm then?" he asked. Daniris looked at me before bringing my head up to his lips and kissing me on the forehead "No, I think you made a wise decision," he said. I blushed as he held me and his wife held onto my hand "Has Sebastian been treating you well?" Elsa asked. I nodded my hand and she smiled softly

"If he treats you harshly tell me," she said, winking, "I'll take care of him." I smiled at her and she laughed "Give her over," Daniris turned and I saw another beautiful couple with the man opening his hands to pick me up. This woman had white hair and frost framed her ice blue eyes and blue lips "Leave her be," Daniris said. The similarly featured man glared at Daniris  
"Come on Ariana," he said. I grabbed onto his hand and Daniris sighed and passed me over. These people were so tall – taller than usual adults and I could feel it as I was held onto. This man was cool to the touch – similar to Kai. I turned my head around to see where Kai was, but I couldn't spot him. I pouted, but I was doted over by the beautiful people in this world.

My mother used to hold me the exact same way. My father would bounce me in his arms till I went to sleep and then kiss me on the forehead. "Daddy," I muttered and I felt somebody kiss my forehead. "Okay, she really has to get back to bed," I heard a familiar voice say  
"She can sleep here, we have a room perfect for her," another voice said

"She's got school in the modern realm," Sebastian said

"What does the modern realm have to do with her? She's one of us now. Let her stay here," I heard another voice say. "No, there are too many distractions here, let her train in the modern world – a world that is no longer hers. One she is alone in," Uncle said. My eyes closed and I went back to sleep.

…

"Where were you this morning?" Cleo asked, looking over a book she was reading

"The Hospital Wing," I answered, sitting on the chair next to her at the Great Hall

"Don't tell me you actually quit assisting there," Yelena said

"And what if I did?" I asked, "I spent far too damn long getting to be on top to give it up for a hobby."  
"Don't you think you're going a bit – far?" Yelena asked. I turned to her

"Yelena _please_," I scoffed, opening my books up to study. I heard her whimper a little, but took no notice as I read through our first lesson on transfiguration. "Heard the news?" I looked up to see Felicity sliding into the seat in front of me. I'd figured out how to handle her "No I didn't," I answered, "Obviously it wasn't important enough for me to care." She went an ugly shade of red

"It's about the dementors," she continued. I sighed and shut my book loudly, frightening a few people around me "Shut it," I hissed – I'd had enough of her, "Or would you like me to trial a new curse I've learnt on you?"

"No," she mumbled and looked down at her plate. I opened my book up again and continued to read where I'd left off.

We waited in line for transfiguration to begin and I thought back to Lady Elsa who had greeted me so warmly and her husband and friends who had all doted over me – and I hadn't done anything! They loved me for me. "Hello, I'm Yelena," I was snapped out of my thoughts to look at Yelena who was talking to a group of Hufflepuffs "I-I know," the girl stuttered, "You're so pretty." She gushed. Yelena lit up "You think so?" she asked, happily, "I think you're pretty too." Oh my gosh, what was she doing? "Leave her," Cleo said next to me  
"She's ruining everything!" I cried

"Believe it or not Ariana, the whole reason Yelena agreed to our charade is because she wanted friends," Cleo snapped

"Yes – and she has friends! Us!" I cried

"Really? You're her friend? Well you certainly aren't acting like it! All you've been talking about is how she's ruining everything for you," Cleo hissed. I glared at her

"If it weren't for me do you really think they'd even look twice at her? At you?" I asked. Cleo glared back "Watch it Ariana," she said, "You're becoming different – paranoid."

"Come in class," Professor McGonagall called somewhere away from us. We stared at each other for a moment more before turning away and walking into class. I couldn't believe Cleo was siding with Yelena! It was because she was pretty – everything had been achieved so easy for her – especially after I'd done all the hard work to get us to where we were! I slumped on my seat and glared at the people taking a glimpse of me. Yelena seemed oblivious to the signs I was showing to get her to stop talking to the girls who were lapping up the attention from her "Really, all you need is a rejuvenation potion," she said, twirling her hair around her fingers. Thanks to her I couldn't listen to what the Professor was talking about at all. I could see Felecity Goyle and a few other Slytherin girls look at Yelena as she blabbed on and on with the Hufflepuff girls and by the end of class I'd had enough – I didn't come all this way to see her take it from me. "Hey – after classes are over maybe you'd like to come see the garden I was talking about?" a red haired girl said

"Oh, I'd love"

"She can't," I cut in. Yelena looked over her shoulder to see me looming over her,

"Oh," the girl squealed like she was about to wet her pants

"Ariana," Cleo warned – right in front of the class that was going silent. I tried to lighten up

"We need to go do that – thing – that I was mentioning," I said, slowly. Yelena looked confused

"What thing?" she asked

"You know – that thing – that I want you to do," I said

"I don't know what you're talking about," Yelena said. I grabbed her arm tightly,  
"Come on I'll show you," I glared at her and she got the message

"We can do that tomorrow," Yelena said, unyielding, "But tonight I'm going with Stacey."  
"Are you sure about that?" I hissed quietly in her ear so nobody could hear, "You're ruining everything Yelena." She pulled her arm away and looked away from me and packed up her bags. That was better. I ignored the look Cleo was sending me and got my own bags and headed out. "I'm going with Stacey to the flower field past the main oval," Yelena said, turning on me as we got out of earshot "Says who?" I asked

"Says me," Yelena cried – and I could see tears forming in her eyes, "I want friends Ariana – and you're not letting me have them – so what? I could be the head of Slytherin? I don't even want that!" she cried

"You're being selfish," I cried

"I'm the one being selfish?" she cried, "Ever since we've come back you've been disapproving of me because I'm not smart enough – or I don't say the right things. Who are you to tell me what to be?"

"How dare you speak to me when I made you!" I cried. She snorted, tears falling out onto her cheek "Well I'm sorry Princess Ariana," she said, then looked at me in disgust, "Do you really think being on top and being beautiful is going to make people love you?" she asked, "You're so messed up holding onto your past that you're psychotic and no amount of spells is going to change your personality. You always cry that nobody cares about you – but you push the people who are near to you away because why? They're not good enough? You're crazy Ariana, you need help, but I'm done with this – and I'm done with you. Have fun being on top alone," she said

"You can't bale – you think those girls are going to like you when you're no longer popular? They'll toss you aside," I hissed

"You really are paranoid," Cleo said. I turned to her

"So what? You're going to abandon me too?" I cried. She shook her head

"When you act like such a jerk how can I not?" she asked, walking towards Yelena, "I'm done." The two of them walked away and left me in the corridor on my own. Tear welled in my eyes "Ariana?" I heard a girl's voice call. Not now, I thought to myself. I turned and ran away. So I couldn't even trust my so called friends to have my back? I was truly alone – how could they have lied to me? Pretended like we'd be friend forever? I was just trying to protect them! I ran out to a courtyard "They'll see," I called to my reflection in the pond, "Sooner or later they'll realise this school's a hell hole and they'll come running back to me." The rock gargoyle flinched at me. I twitched as it came closer and suddenly I lunged – grabbing it and throwing into the fountain that was in the centre and I let out a shriek, until all the anger and pain dulled down a little. Uncle had been right – this world was really nothing to me. Everything was so superficial – the school – my friends – and even myself. I couldn't take it anymore – I couldn't take this world anymore. I grabbed my locket and twisted it, wanting to escape.


	25. Chapter 25

"Is Uncle anywhere?" I asked a woman whose name had slipped my mind

"No my dear," she said, then frowned and picked me up "Sweetheart, what's wrong?" she sounded concerned – genuinely concerned. She was a stranger to me and yet, in this world, she cared more than anybody else in my world. I gripped onto her dress and sobbed into her chest and she cooed to me. I felt a hand on my head "What's wrong – is she sick?" I heard a voice say

"Oh dear – we'd better find Sebastian," somebody else said

"He's gone – who knows when he'll come back," somebody else answered.

"K-kai," I sobbed. I needed someone familiar – Kai had said he'd be my friend – or had that been a lie too "She wants the Death prince?" somebody asked surprise

"Just hurry up and go fetch him," somebody else growled.

"Give her over to me," a male voice said

"She's fine, she's only just begun to calm down. You'll frighten her!" the girl woman said.

"What's going on?" a familiar voice said. I peered over my shoulder to see a crowd surrounding me and Kai's stand-out-face pushing through. To his defence he didn't make any smart comments or laugh at me. He carefully extracted me from the woman's arms and into his own cool hands. "What happened? Are you hurt?" he asked, looking me over  
"You were right," I mumbled in his ear, "The other world's superficial." He sighed

"I'm taking her away," he announced

"No!" they called

"As if you could help," I heard somebody else growl, but cool winds surrounded me and the world around me disappeared in fog. As the fog cleared we were in a – very modern home. It was spacious and the floor, walls and ceilings were all white and all the furniture was black. He put me down on a large, C-shaped couch and sat next to me "Ah – so you've learnt how to change your appearance," he mumbled, looking at my face. "Beautiful, aren't I?" I said, bitterly

"I prefer the squirt you are," he said and I looked back at him

"You said we were friends, right Kai?" I asked him cautiously

"_You_ said we were friends," he said. I frowned

"So – you don't think so?" I asked

"Where are you going with this?" he asked

"Just answer the question," I growled

"Yes Ariana, you and I are friends," he said. I sighed in relief and lay back down "Why?"

"You're the only friend I have now," I admitted.

"Ah – so your so-called-friends deserted you," he said. I nodded

"They got what they wanted from me and left," I said, tears re-appearing in my eyes

"So?" he said, "You have me." I pushed my head onto his shoulder

"That's really good to know," I admitted, "Can't I stay in this realm?"  
"Sebastian says you have to face the real world," he said. I sighed. "You know Ariana – you and I are in the same boat now," he said. I looked up at him "We both barely have anybody and the world hates us." It was sad – but true.

"Great – so I'm death," I said and he laughed

"No – more like a plague," he teased. I tried to smile, but I wasn't in the mood. All I could think of was how Cleo and Yelena had left me – and even though Kai and the people in this realm told me it was expected – I couldn't help but hurt. I covered my face with my hands and Kai sighed and pulled me onto his lap and rocked me as I sobbed in his chest till I fell into an uneasy sleep.

"…she's tiny," I heard a deep voice mutter and a familiar laugh. I yawned and opened my eyes slowly. "Every time you come here you fall asleep," Kai teased. I rubbed my eyes and looked at him and the towering figure next to him. He looked like he was in his twenties and was just as handsome as Kai with his long black hair that fell into his eyes and his matching black eyes "Is this your brother?" I asked, accidentally yawning again. "This is my father," Kai laughed. I stopped and looked at this man – that was impossible! He only looked like he was in his twenties. "Apparently he looked a lot younger when I was born," he said.

"D-d-d-death," I stuttered.

"And you are the new gate keeper," he said, eying me. He was different to Kai – you could actually tell this man was death from the way he held himself – he was frightening – especially in the black hooded cloak. He took in a whiff of air and scrunched his nose, "You reek of life," he said  
"Sorry," I mumbled and Kai laughed. The man loomed down on Kai

"You should be training," he growled, "Not prancing around with a child. Take her back to her own realm _now_."

"Please sir – it was my fault," I said, jumping in front of Kai – he was my only friend now – I had to protect him, "I was really – upset and I wanted him to comfort me. Kai's really, really nice! Don't take it out on him." The man stared at me hardly for a long time causing my eyes to water, then looked away, "I expect to see you this afternoon!" he grumbled as he turned and walked off, disappearing into fog. "Standing up in front of Death – you sure have guts," Kai laughed. I collapsed onto the couch shaking, "He's scary," I admitted

"He's not so bad – he just doesn't like people from the old realm – and the new realm – okay, so he doesn't like anybody," he said.

"Where's your mother?" I asked Kai. He shrugged

"I was the wonderful result of a one-night-stand," Kai said. I wrapped my arms around him

"Well your mother's missed out," I shrugged. He turned and smiled at me

"You know I've been waiting for the past four hours for you to wake up," he said, "It's boring when you fall asleep."

"What do you want to do?" I asked – I wasn't sure exactly how old realm people liked to play.

"This," he said and suddenly he threw his arms around me and I felt myself get lifted off the couch before appearing on the roof top of a city "Where are we?" I asked, looking around

"Look here," he said and pulled me over with him down the fire exit stairs. We stopped at the landing of one and peered down "Look there," he said, pointing to an elderly fat lady yelling at a bunch of children who were wearing rags "Check this out," he muttered and snapped his fingers. A threstral appeared behind her and head butted her in the rear throwing her metres in the air and onto a table with food on top. He burst into giggles "That's not even remotely funny," I muttered. She got up and the look of confusion on her face with spaghetti running over her chest got me giggling "I told you it was funny," he said, "Come on – you try."  
"I can't – if I use magic the Ministry of Magic will be on my case in no time," I said

"Use Ancient Magic," he said.

"I don't know how," I admitted

"Aw – no fun," he said, pouting

"Hold on – let's see if I can still use hand magic," I muttered. It tended to go once you started using a wand. I looked at the stool behind the woman and swiped my hand. It barely moved a centimetre "That was pretty pathetic," Kai said. He swiped his hand and the stool slammed into her behind and she fell onto floor and we were both reduced to giggles. "Hey! Who's out there?" we turned to see someone opening the window of their apartment. Kai pulled up the hood of his cloak and loomed over the window "This is death," he said, "And William Bartow – your time is up."

"H-how do you know my name? Weirdo," he said

"I also know you cheated on your wife last night with your secretary – Marissa Thalma," he said. His wife appeared "What? – What's this freak going on about?" William paled and looked at his wife

"He-he's making it all up," he cried

"How does he know your secretary's name!" the woman cried, "And who the hell is the kid?"  
"Oh her – ignore her," Kai said in his deep voice of doom and I couldn't help but giggle, "She's my apprentice – of doom." I got up

"Dooooom," I wailed and Kai shook in laughter behind his cloaks

"I'll leave you now William – but remember should you cheat on your wife again – whether with your secretary – or Jennifer Meadows from you wife's gym group, I'll be baaaack," he said and suddenly he grabbed me and we disappeared in cloud of smoke. We reappeared outside the Old City giggling to each other "We are so bad," I said as I laughed

"They deserved it," he said, "Why do humans still do things that are bad?"  
"I don't know," I admitted, lying down on the ground next to Kai

"You know I've always wanted to show somebody that," he said

"What?" I asked

"You know – share my hobbies," he shrugged

"That's your hobby?" I asked laughing, "You're _so _bad!" He pinched my cheek

"You need to hurry and grow up," Kai said. I grinned

"I won't be able to catch up to you! Age is kind of like that!" I laughed

"I'll stop aging in two years," he said, "And you'll catch up to me in five years." That was right – time was different here.

"And that's where you two are," I jumped up to see Uncle looming over us, "Ariana, I've been looking everywhere for you!" he cried.

"Sorry," I said quickly,

"Come on," he said. I turned to Kai

"I'll see you tomorrow – okay?" I said. He smiled and gave me a small salute before I ran over to my Uncle. He grabbed my hand and we disappeared and reappeared in his apartment in Hogsmead "Viviette said she saw you appear and cry all the way through the Old City," he said. The misery of what had happened hit me and I slumped on a couch and told Uncle the whole story. When I finished I looked up and I could see he was looking at me with guilt on his face. "I'm sorry Ariana," he said, "Relationships with the modern worlder's don't exactly last with us," he said. I shook my head

"It's not your fault," I said, "I should have listened to you – and – and not made friends."  
"Maybe it would have been better not to have chosen you," he muttered. I looked up

"Don't say that! If it weren't for – this face, I wouldn't have even made any friends," I cried, "This – this is for the better! Without them I can focus better on my goal! I want to finish training and avenge my family. I'll put my heart and soul into it Uncle," I cried and I sank onto the floor, tears coming out of my eyes, "So – so don't say you regret choosing me, cause you're all I have." Uncle pulled me up into his arms and I cried as he held me.

…

"Adeline," I looked up to see Regulus rushing over to me, "You disappeared two days ago – where the heck have you been? I was worried."  
"It's fine – I needed some time to myself," I said, smiling. He analysed every millimetre of my perfect face before sighing, "If you say so," he said. I looked over to see a blonde haired boy and a brunette waiting for Regulus by the door of the common room. I smiled "Your friends are waiting for you Reg – you should go," I said

"Huh – oh yeah," he said, "You know Quidditch trials are on next week – you'll come out and support me right?"  
"Of course," I said, smiling. He grinned before running off to his friends and I felt a pang of jealousy – how did he make friends so easily? – Then again he knew half the Slytherin boys in his year from before he even entered Hogwarts. When Regulus was gone I felt so alone "Disappearing for two whole days – I hope something's not the matter," Felicity sniggered as she came over to me. I felt my wand in my pocket and suddenly flames flew out of the floor and around Felicity and she let out an ugly screech. I walked into the flames and over to her as she cowered away "Half of Gryffindor is afraid of me Felicity – push my buttons the wrong way and I'll do something much, much more worse to you," I hissed before I turned and left her in the common room, snapping my fingers to get rid of the flames.

I went straight from the Slytherin dorms to the library to study the book Uncle had given me. "Ariana," I looked up to see Remus Lupin smiling at me. "Fancy seeing you here," he said

"Actually I was just about to leave," I said – this place was far too crowded

"Why? I have a spare seat," he said, "What're you studying for?" I hid the book

"Defence Against the Dark Arts," I lied.

"Sirius and James aren't here you know," he said – as if that made it better – which it kind of did

"That's nice but I think I might go outside and study for a bit – on my own," I said, "Spell practice may end in disaster in here." I looked at the books flying around us. He smiled

"I guess you're right – I'll see you at class today?" he asked

"Sure," I said, smiling.

I went over to the edge of the green lawn to the Forbidden Forest and looked around to see if anyone was watching before entering into it. As I got in deeper and deeper I felt under my shirt and spun the Kitometrix and turned into the white mage. I threw the book onto the floor and began reading and dancing – at first I felt stupid – especially because none of the spells were working, but the more I concentrated the more at awe I was. It was autumn now and you could see the leaves browning as they were getting ready to fall, but as I danced, they began to turn green again and flowers shot out around me – but this wasn't like the normal forest shrubbery either – it was enchanting – like the forest outside the old city, it was amazing. "Who's there?" I jumped and fell back as I saw a giant person coming over to me. I shut the book and hid it as with my bag. Hagrid – the games keeper of Hogwarts came out and looked over at me "Why 'ello there you little thing – didn't mean to scare ya," he said. Surrendering his hands and crouching down – to become man size, "I thought you 'ere one of tha' students," he said. I pushed myself away from him – he didn't realise who I was. He looked at the trees and back at me "Hmm – forest nymph?" he asked.

"L-l-leave me a-alone!" I cried, pretending to be frightened for him to leave and for me to be able to get my school bag. "Now, now I wasn't going to hurt ya," he said. He offered me his hand. I had never really spoken to the half-breed games keeper. I quietly gave him my hand and with surprising delicacy for someone so enormous he helped me up. "Didn't know nymphs could speak English," he said. I let go of his hand and looked up at him and he gave me a warm smile. People here were so weird – people who were supposed to like me hated me and strangers I didn't know were nice to me. Barking ripped into the air and I jumped, frightened "Be quie' ya stupid mutt," the giant growled, "You'll scar' her away." As he turned to the dog I grabbed my bag and book and with lightning speed I ran away. I was quite quick on my feet and when I got to the edge of the forest I twisted the kitometrix and jumped out, gasping. I looked back at the forest and heard barking once more before running back to Hogwarts.

I entered Potions and found Yelena surrounded by Gryffindor and Slytherin girls giggling and absorbing every word she said and Cleo enjoying the attention she was getting too. Yelena saw me enter and she stopped what she was saying. I looked back at her, but she frowned, turned away and continued speaking to the girls. A pang of hurt erupted in my heart as I went to my usual seat and sat. "Ariana," I looked up and saw Sirius smiling at me, "Are you alright?" This was all his fault! If it hadn't been for him I wouldn't have even wanted to make any friends in the first place "Get lost Black," I growled.

"I'm guessing the usual," he said. He looked around, "Where are your friends?" He was so ridiculously dense! I got up "You know I've found a new spell and I've been wanting to try it on someone…"

"Okay class, to your seats," Professor Slughorn came in and I sighed and sat back down, "Today I have a treat for you – can anyone tell me what's in this flask?" He said it like it was a question but he went right up to me and handed it over. I took a whiff and wrinkled my noise "Evangelic Potion," I said. "Excellent Miss Dumbledore – 20 points to Slytherin!" Sirius sighed next to me and I gripped my wand a little tighter in my pocket "Now does anybody know what Evangelic potion does?" he asked. This time it was an actual question and Lily Evans put her hand up and said what it was. "Gives you wings," she said

"Correct, 20 points to Gryffindor," he said. Sirius grinned and I was very tempted to not even bother with the wand and flatten him with my fists – why was I even angry at Sirius? This wasn't even his fault! This was all my own doing. I should have stuck with my first idea – get through Hogwarts on my own – be the best witch ever, rely on myself and avenge my parents – that was enough! I sighed "Are you sure you're okay?" Sirius asked, frowning. I looked over at him and couldn't help but remember the smug smirk he'd given me in first year when he'd pushed me to the ground – did boys really change this much at the face of beauty? "Fine," I said – I was more angry with the world in general – society. I opened my potions book "Okay – the ingredients are in your book – good luck," he said. With the idea of flying in mind everyone was excited to do this potion well. "I'll go get the ingredients," Sirius said, grinning as he eyed James at the ingredients cabinet  
"Take your time," I said – I meant it as I took a rusty cauldron out and began scanning over the ingredients – this class was waste of time, I thought to myself. "Is everything all right Miss Dumbledore?" I looked up to see Professor Slughorn smiling warmly at me

"Actually sir I was wondering if anybody in Hogwarts had ever skipped a grade?" I asked him. The entire room went silent. "To be honest Ariana, nobody's ever asked," he said – of course, to everyone Hogwarts was seven years of bliss. "Why do you ask?" he asked, concerned

"I don't feel challenged," I said, "I know all of this stuff already." He suddenly smiled  
"I feel so too," he said, "Maybe you should bring it up with the Headmaster – if you'd like I can make you an appointment."  
"Yes please," I said and he grinned and walked off –why was he so eager to help me? Oh well – the idea of turning the next six years at Hogwarts into the next five – or maybe even less was appealing. "Why would you want to make your stay here shorter?" Sirius asked confused as he lay out the ingredients and I began to make the potion up without his help, "It's a school Sirius and I'm not learning anything that I don't already know – so there's no point in being here." He still didn't get it as I began adding things into the cauldron "I personally don't think you should skip," he said, "I'd miss you." I stopped scrapping the black goo out of the Dante's bean and looked at him dumbfounded – with James looking at him in the exact same way from in front of us "Mate – you say the weirdest things sometimes," James said shaking his head

"What?" Sirius cried, "Wouldn't you?" James widened his eyes

"Maybe you hit your head a little too hard on the way to the kitchen," James said, then looked at me, "Best you ignore him when he's like this,"

"Was planning on it," I muttered and continued making the potion  
"You know you guys sometimes say things that really hurt," Sirius grumbled and slumped onto his stool. I looked at him from the corner of my eye and he looked like Marcel when I told him he was too little to play with me sometimes "Um – well we'd still be in the same school so it wouldn't be that bad," I muttered quietly.

"Never mind," he muttered, "I don't really know what I was talking about." He truly looked dumbfounded himself.

He didn't say anything else to me – instead he just focused on the potion I was brewing. "Hm – okay, everyone finished? Let's go outside and test them out," Professor Slughorn said. I scooped the potion into a vile and followed the class outside. Cleo and Yelena were surrounded with girls while I walked next to Sirius. "Okay – Evans, want to go first?" Professor Slughorn asked once outside. Lily gave it to Severus and he took it "Watch this," Sirius muttered to James, grinning as he brought his wand out. I grabbed his hand and pulled his wand down "Don't," I said. James sighed

"Party pooper," he muttered. I was worried when I'd let go of his hand he'd end up hexing Severus anyways so I held onto the top of his hand as Severus sprouted out brown wings and unsteadily got to the air. A few metres up he looked green and ended up dropping back onto the floor. James and Sirius led the giggles that came from the crowd. I let go of his hand as Cleo and Yelena were up next. Cleo sprouted out beautiful golden wings and took to the air smoothly, flying delicately in the air – like she was born to fly – had the two of them always looked like that. The class cheered and looked over at them adoringly. I let everyone else have their turns, feeling rather down. "Miss Dumbledore?" Professor Slughorn called as a little under a quarter the class were in the air, their partners looking up enviously as were the people with half a wing or baby wings. "Sirius!" James sang as he dived for him and Sirius grinned, clawing for the potion, but I'd opened the cork and drank it myself. I could feel it seep into my body with a sweet, cooling sensation spread. "Nothing's happening," someone said after a moment, "Are you sure you brewed it properly?" somebody asked. I didn't answer them as my shoulder blades began to slouch out before ripping through the back of my clothes like the other wings had done to their victims. White feathers beat flew around me and I looked at the snow coloured wings that surrounded me. Everyone was silent as I smiled at the wings. I moved my shoulder blades and the wings spread out. It was like instinct was calling at me to fly. "You look like an angel," Remus gasped as I crouched to the floor before throwing myself into the air, letting my wings catch me as I spiralled through the air. I stopped halfway and flapped mid- air – and I saw everyone below me looking up at me in awe. I felt so – free. I spiralled around in the air and went further and higher – it was exhilarating – nobody could touch me here, nobody could hurt me – or catch me! I laughed and dived over to the forest, before gliding along the lake "You fly like a Quidditch Player!" I looked over to see James keeping speed with me, "You should join the team!" he said. I grinned

"I will if you can catch me," I said and zoomed up the edge of one of the towers on Hogwarts and swooped into the air. James was coming up fast and I froze my wings around me and let myself free fall to the ground. James was hot on my rear; grinning and I smiled too looking at the ground beneath me "Ariana! Pull out!" he cried and I looked over to see him, frightened – this time he was trying to catch me to save me. I looked at the ground and within metres of hitting the floor, I opened my wings and glided along it – inches from hitting the floor. I spiralled, letting myself slow down, before landing on the floor. James landed right next to me "That was – awesome!" he cried. His wings turned into a puff of feathers and disappeared "Darn it!" he growled. So that was flying – that was why Marcel had loved it so much. It was chance for them to be free and they'd wanted me to share it with them but I'd been too frightened. Everyone's wings turned into a puff of feathers and when Slughorn finally dismissed us Cleo's went too, but mine stayed all the way till we got inside. They shone in the little rays of light before finally scattering beautifully around me and falling to the floor, disintegrating. I went to potions and grabbed a diary out of my bag and opened it up to the page of today and rubbed out some of the study I had planned and put down flying – it was worth using that broom I'd been given anyways. I shut the book, grabbed my bag and got ready to leave. I left just as Cleo entered. She looked me up and down, before moving away from me. I almost felt like crying again – no, flying would make me forget about it, I thought to myself as I moved away from her and over to the next class.

…

Adeline Westwood – a child who'd never been naturally talented at anything – people who actually knew me would know and as a child from a talented family it had annoyed me to no end. One thing I did have was stubbornness. When I wanted to do something, I would give my one hundred per cent to doing it. "Why am I here again?" Kai asked, sitting quietly on the edge of a clearing in who-knows-where. I had a helmet on, cushioning pads on my arms and legs and a determined face. A few of the other ancients had also decided to get passports to come and look at me try to fly and I wondered yet again whether they had anything they had to do – any job they actually did because they easily dropped everything and came over to me. "If I fall you need to catch me," I said, "And I need – support." I was frightened –I'd always been afraid of flying. At least with the wings they couldn't accidentally drop off while I was flying. "She looks so cute," a beautiful woman with snow white hair muttered to her husband – nobles I think. "Why are you doing this if you're so frightened?" Kai asked, confused

"Because I want to!" I cried. I didn't want him to talk me out of it, "Now help me – please." He sighed and got off the ground and as he walked towards me, black mist splattered out of his back till two black, raven wings loomed around him, making him more frightening them I'd ever seen him "I d-d-didn't k-know you c-c-c-could do that," I stumbled.

"Perks of the title of the Prince of Death I guess," he said, shrugging, "Ready when you are."

"Right," I said, taking a deep breath. I looked at my broom "UP!" I roared from nervousness. The broom shot up so high I was thrown into the air. "Down!" I whimpered and it fell back and I was thrown into Kai's arms. "Wow – you really do suck," he muttered.  
"Oh no – are you hurt?" arms poured in around me as people began doting over me  
"Let's go back to my house and forget about all this flying business," a purple haired, beautiful Japanese looking woman in a kimono said, offering me her hand. "But – but I want to fly!" I cried

"Why don't I make you some silk wings? You can fly then," her husband in Japanese wear as well smiled at me. "N-no I want to fly this way," I said. The woman sighed

"You're very cute when you say it like that," she said and someone fetched my broom for me. They were all within arms reach of me when I got ready again – ready to catch me when I fell and it meant a lot to me. "Okay – slowly this time," Kai said. I nodded

"Up!" I said and the broom shot up into my arms. I grinned – that was the easy part done. I mounted my broom and took a deep breath before pushing myself off the ground and rising slowly. The Japanese man under me's face began to get distorted as did his body. He suddenly turned into a Japanese dragon and spun in the air and stayed close to me. Black wings came to my right and Kai hovered in the air "Maybe you should think about stopping – before you hit space," he said, and I realised I was still rising. In the book it said I need to lean my weight forward. I pushed forward, but Kai immediately restrained me "_Slowly_," he emphasised and I grinned sheepishly as I slowly leaned forward and the broom stopped. "I did it!" I cried

"You're also losing circulation in your knuckles," he grinned. I was gripping onto the broom really tightly – but I was too frightened to let go. "How about following me," the dragon next to me said

"Okay," I said, shivering and he shot through the air. I gripped onto my broom tightly and began following him, but he was so quick "You know, at this pace maybe you'll reach the ground in – I don't know – say next week?" Kai said.

"I'm scared," I said

"I noticed," Kai said as the dragon appeared next to me again

"What are you frightened of?" he asked

"Falling to my death," I cried

"You have twelve people here ready to catch you if you fall," Kai said, "You could fly with your eyes closed and you'd still be safe!"

"It-it's kind of funny how Death would save me from dying," I said, huffing up a laugh

"Death jokes are kind of getting old Ariana," he muttered, "Now fly." I took a deep breath and began flying a little faster – it was exhilarating, looking at the trees around me falling away "For goodness sake Ariana – this is fast!" he cried and suddenly my broom threw itself in the air. I shrieked as I tore through the air, swerving all over the place. A tree was right in the centre of where my broom was going and I gasped and closed my eyes just as scales wrapped around me. I opened my eyes to see the dragon holding me in the air. He elegantly went down to the ground and I landed safely as he turned back into a human "How dare you?!" he roared over to Kai who landed metres from me

"No! He – he was right," I said, shivering, but he wasn't listening. He walked over to Kai and looked like he was going to hit him. I darted out of people's arms and threw myself in front of him "He was trying to stop me from being scared!" I cried as loudly as I could. He stopped and looked over at me and I walked over and held onto his hand "Thank you – for catching me," I said. He pulled me up into his arms and pulled me close "That's enough flying," he said softly

"One more time, please," I said, "You'll still catch me won't you?" I looked up and my insides warmed and I blushed – he was giving me the look – the father look. One I hadn't seen in years. I buried my head into his chest and he sighed "Once more then you're coming back to the Old City," he said. I nodded my head and hoped out of his arms and we were both a little upset at breaking apart. "Here," Kai said and handed me the broom.

"Up!" I called and it did as I asked. I took a deep breath – but something was different. I wasn't afraid anymore – my new family – everyone in the Old City was protecting me. I smiled at that and jumped off the ground and soared into the sky. "Much better," Kai said. I slowly made a small circle "Lean more to the left," he called and I did as I was told. I wasn't any good still – the students at Hogwarts could do this after their first lesson but I knew that now – it wasn't that impossible for me to fly anymore.

I landed safely and ran over to the dragon man and held his hand "Did you see me?" I asked eagerly. He swooped down and grabbed me into his arms "Perfect," he said, "Now let's go."  
"Hey – what are you hogging her for?" another woman growled. He turned and I looked over at Kai

"Thank you Kai!" I cried, "I knew I could count on you to help!" His feather's disappeared and he grinned at me "I'll see you on the other side," he said and disappeared in a puff of black mist.

I was taken to the Old City and went up to a different pair of steps in the Old City to another part of the Noble's estate. A huge Japanese complex was set out with a garden outside and a palace. How – how did these places exist? The city was only small – or had I not explored it enough? We went inside and he put me into a room. "Are you hungry?" his wife asked. I shook my head and yawned. "She's tired Seiki," She softly ran her fingers through my hair and I pulled towards her touch – I liked it when people touched my hair. I was picked up again and put into a room with a futon on the floor and I was slowly put down "This can be your room if you like it," the man called Seiki said. I smiled and nodded – but the warmth of the mattress was so good. "Goodnight daddy," I muttered too tired to care as I closed my eyes and went to bed, "I love you,"  
"I love you too," I heard my dad say as I closed my eyes.

Something cool touched me and I slowly opened my eyes, but nothing but pitch black met me. I pulled away groggily "Sorry," Kai's distinct voice said. I smiled and collapsed back onto the bed and pulled the blankets around me closer "Are you ever warm?" I asked

"Not really," he said, "But you certainly are." I pulled myself closer to him "You know – you're the third girl to do this to me this week alone." I sniggered

"Whatever," I muttered as he put his arm around me. I heard him laugh too

"I thought you'd freak out if you found me asleep next to you," he said

"I understand," I said, "You're lonely – just like me. I'm glad you came." I held onto his hand and he held onto mine "You're such a kid," he said

"Stroke my hair till I fall asleep," I said

"What?" he asked

"You said I'm such a kid! Then can you stroke my hair till I'm asleep? That's what you do to kids," I said.

"You're so sneaky," he said and he held onto my hand with one of his hands and began stroking my hair. I pulled closer to him and sighed "You're right Kai – I don't need anyone else but you," I muttered as I closed my eyes and let sleep take me again.


End file.
